Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers
by Spiceracksargent001
Summary: A parallel story to Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles. Join the Element Reavers Guild as they go about engaging foes of a magnitude they've only seen before in the anime, with rules different from the card game. How will they fare? Only one way to find out.
1. Chapter 1 - Getting Started

**Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here, and this is something of a new side-project I've set up. ELFI, take over for a sec.**

 **ELFI: Of course, Captain. This story came about from an idea that has been in the Captain's mind for some time now, and the result is this story, which will run parallel to Phoenix Champion's Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles. Spice has already consulted with Phoenix himself if this was fine, and has gotten Phoenix's approval for this.**

 **Spice: Thank you ELFI, I can take over from here. Huge props to Phoenix Champion for letting me do this. Phoenix, if you're reading this, you are awesome. Thank you, so much for letting me do this. You are my inspiration, not just for this, but also for Remnant's Skybound Striker. Keep up the good work, dude, I always look forward to more of your work. As always, folks, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated, and if any of you want to bitch about what I'm doing here, just know that I have Flame Shield in my arcane repertoire. Alright, let's get started!**

* * *

Hello there, everyone, the name's Cloud Skywind, and today marks my first day in a new life in Virtual Reality. You're probably curious what that means, right? Allow me to explain.

I've been hearing about this relatively new company lately called Data Life, who, about 5 years ago, pretty much took the concept of Virtual Reality and turned it on its head. How, you may ask? Instead of putting on a helmet or something like that and playing a video game like normal, they send you straight _into_ the Virtual Reality world, with a _startling_ attention to detail. How startling? From what I've heard, a woman can get pregnant in one of Data Life's VR worlds, have a kid, and if the woman leaves the VR world, she'll come out with a flesh-and-blood human child at her side.

Sounds crazy, right? Had a hard time believing it myself when I first heard about that.

Data Life's made a few different VR worlds over the years, Medieval Fantasy, Space Age Fantasy, Monster Girls, a Pokemon World - which was how I learned about Data Life in the first place; I've been a fan of Pokemon since Gen 1 - and, more recently, one based on the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, which convinced me to give their VR a try.

I'll admit, it's been awhile since I last played Yu-Gi-Oh, so I'd scrounged around for my own playing cards, since I heard that everyone going into the Data Life's Yu-Gi-Oh world can enter with a level 4 or below monster as a "starter monster", until I found the one I wanted, my Harpie's Brother.

I've put together a sort of Wind Attribute rushdown deck since the time when I, myself, actually played Yu-Gi-Oh, and Harpies are a key element of that deck. I know he's been officially renamed "Sky Scout" to clarify that he's not actually a Harpie and doesn't benefit from their archetype, but back when I played, he was called Harpie's Brother, and I honestly prefer the old name. It has a certain ring to it that fits this master of the skies much better than Sky Scout ever will in my opinion.

Anyway, as I was heading in to sign up for the Yu-Gi-Oh world, I kind of ran into someone while thinking about how I wanted to set myself up in this Virtual World. "Oh, sorry," the person I ran into said in a feminine voice, prompting me to turn my attention to the person in front of me. She was about my height with fair skin, blue eyes, and white hair that flowed down to her waist. Her attire, from what I was able to see, consisted of a simple, white t-shirt, light blue hoodie that she was currently wearing like a cape, and a skirt that started as white as her shirt, but faded to blue as it went down to just above her knees.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," I apologize before holding out my hand for a handshake. "Cloud Skywind."

The girl blinked before smiling a little and taking my hand. "Diana Dust, nice to meet you," Diana says, introducing herself, before noticing the card in my off hand. "Are you signing up for Data Life's newest VR World too?"

"Yeah, it's been awhile since I last did anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh, though, so here's hoping," I reply with a shrug. "What about you?"

"Same, though I still play," Diana replies. We then head to different receptionists, reading what info was readily available.

"Type and Attribute…? What's the deal with that?" I ask.

"Well, you know how all Yu-Gi-Oh Monsters have a Type and an Attribute, right?" The receptionist asks, getting a nod from me. "Players basically get the same thing upon entering this Virtual World. Your Attribute not only affects the color of your starting outfit, it also gives you a single ability that takes effect regardless of your Type. Your chosen Type also influences how your character can transform as he levels up and the abilities he can gain."

I nod with a hum before looking to the terminal and begin typing in my info.

 _Name: Cloud Skywind_

 _Gender: Male_

 _Age: 17_

 _Attribute: Wind_

 _Type: Spellcaster_

Now, for anyone curious why I chose to be a Wind-attribute Spellcaster, it's because I've always had a fondness for air as an element, and by choosing Spellcaster, I'll be able to use my favorite element as a tool for making my way in this virtual world. Air is the Element of Freedom, after all. It may not be the most popular element to use in most RPGs, but a master of the element is someone to be feared on the battlefield. Because most people who think elemental magic think of the archetypal "Elemental Trinity" of Fire, Ice, and Electricity, when a good aeromancer comes along, they break the mold and play by their own rules, with the only true limits being their imagination, their morals, and being in a vacuum.

"Done," I say after checking to make sure I got everything right.

"Alright, now, you may select one monster to start with when entering the virtual world. This Monster must be at or below level 4 to be considered valid."

"Harpie's Brother," I reply instantly, handing the card to the receptionist.

She looked surprised that I had one of the original English releases of his card, but nodded before handing me Harpie's Brother and an I.D. card. "Thank you, sir. All you need to do now is step into one of the digitalizers, and you'll be good to go. Enjoy your time in the virtual world!"

I nodded and looked to see that Diana had also just finished. "So, what are you going in as?" she asked as we made our way to the digitalizers.

"Wind-Spellcaster, you?" I reply while opening one of the digitalizers.

"Water-Zombie," she replies, doing the same. "See ya in the VR."

I nodded before stepping in and placing my I.D. card on the scanner. After the scanner finished, my entire world faded to blue.

* * *

When I could see again, I found myself standing in a dark room.

"Welcome, to the tutorial zone," a deep, disembodied voice called out. "Here, you will learn exactly how this world works."

After the tutorial said this, an object materialized before me. It looked like one of those Duel Disks from the anime, but smaller and with three slots. "This is a Bracer. Though it's appearance varies depending on the player's Type, all Bracers hold the same function. This is your Inventory, Monster summoner, Trap and Spell activator, Phone, Map, Enemy Analyzer, and much more."

The Bracer then floated away and found itself on the white silhouette of a man that faded in as the Bracer floated away. "To summon a Monster, all you need to do is put the card on the Bracer to summon it." To demonstrate, the silhouette put a card on the Bracer, which was followed by a Celtic Guardian appearing next to him.

"Players and their Monsters have separate Life Points," the tutorial explains. "Life Points are determined by Level multiplied by 100. Attack and Defense points are determined by the Monster's original Attack and Defense divided by 10. Unless actively defending, a Monster's Defense Points are treated as having been further divided by 2." Following this explanation, the two figures disappeared. "As you defeat wild Monsters, you gain experience points equal to the Monster's level times 10. To level up, a player must accumulate experience points equal to their level times 100. Monsters must acquire 1000 EXP to level up, meaning players level up more quickly than Monsters."

After the explanation of how experience works, Trap Hole, Call of the Haunted, Pot of Greed, Burning Land, The Book of Magical Spells, Rising Air Current, and Turtle Oath appeared in front of me.

"Trap Cards are single-use only, with few exceptions, so after using a Trap, you must find or buy a new one," the tutorial explains, the spell cards fading out. Then the Traps fade out as the Spells return to full color. "The same applies to most Spells. Continuous and Equip Spells are multi-use, but require a cooldown between uses. Field Spells unlock new areas on your World Map for fast travel if you have not been to the location already, while Ritual Spells are located throughout the world, requiring you to first locate it before you can obtain and use it."

The cards then vanish altogether, being replaced with two treasure chests, though one was of much better quality.

"In addition to Ritual Spells, Loot Boxes can also be found throughout the world. These Loot Boxes yield Gold and the occasional recovery card. Similar chests, referred to as Treasure Boxes, can be found on the open road, and often yield cards of a rarer quality," the tutorial explains before the two chests disappear.

"Lastly, to obtain new Monsters you must buy them, obtain them as drops from fighting monsters, or, if you are the same type as the Monster, by talking with them and convincing them to join you. "That's all you need to know for now. Further tutorials will be available in the 'Help' section of your Menu when it is appropriate, now get out there, and have a fun new life."

With that, my vision faded to blue once more.

* * *

 **And with that, the first chapter comes to a close. Now, I'll be honest, I haven't played Yu-Gi-Oh since I was a kid, so I'm gonna be going off of the wiki and the animes (when I can get around to re-watching them) for much of what I'm running on for monsters and cards. Hopefully, I can make a story you all can enjoy despite this, so here's hoping. I'd especially like constructive criticism for this story because of my current lack of experience with Yu-Gi-Oh, every little bit counts.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Entering the Virtual World

**Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here, bringing you the next chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers! Time for the story to truly get off the ground and for Cloud and Diana to take their first steps into the virtual world! Special props to Phoenix Champion for his shout-out to this story in his latest chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles. Love your stories, dude, keep up the good work.**

 **ELFI: As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated. Flamers will experience multi-spectrum ECM attacks directed at their comments.**

 **Spice: y'know, I'm honestly surprised I haven't really been flamed at all in the time I've been part of this site, not that I'm complaining. I think it's a good thing. It either means my work is just that good, or my name just hasn't gotten much circulation. The latter would certainly be a bit of a damper on my mood, but meh. One last thing, well, two things, really, before we begin. One: I'm now opening this story to minor OC submissions. For anyone interested, go to Phoenix Champion's profile, he has a link there which will give you the guidelines to making your OC for the Data Life world, and it's what I'm using for making my OCs in this story. Two: Expect a joint chapter between Phoenix and I to come out when we both have our guilds established depicting a meeting/encounter between the Alpha Gear and Element Reavers Guilds. It won't be coming around for a while, but if you follow both this story and Alpha Gear Chronicles, you'll know when the time comes. So, without further ado, let's get started!**

* * *

When I could see again after a blink, I found myself in a lightly forested area. Plenty of bushes and undergrowth, though, so still plenty of areas for Monsters to hide in.

Right, first thing's first. Pulling up my stats from my Bracer, which was green and shaped like a gale of wind, I saw that I was level 1 with 500 LP as a base, 50 Attack Points, and 50 Defense Points.

I also took a quick glimpse at my portrait to make sure it was right. Short, blonde hair that goes down to my shoulders with light grey highlights (I'm not actually greying, my hair is legit that color), green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. Yep, all good. I also noted that my attire consisted of a simple, green linen shirt and pants with footwraps.

"That's gonna get me if I don't find some armor," I muse before spotting a notice by my Defense Points.

'Reminder: A Player's Defense Points are always in an Active state'

"That actually does make me feel a little safer," I remark before drawing the one card in my Bracer's deck holder and looking at it with a smile.

"My attack and defense is still crap, though, so just as a precaution, come forth, Harpie's Brother," I call while putting the card on the Bracer, causing the Monster to appear next to me, though he was about a head taller than me. "Nice to see you again, old friend," I say with a smile.

Harpie's Brother did something that surprised me a bit. He smirked before pulling me into a bro hug, being mindful of that giant claw bracer on his right arm. I didn't question it, I just returned the hug with a smile. It really has been too long since I've played Yu-Gi-Oh.

After about a minute, the two of us broke the hug and shared a quick brofist. "Right, let's get moving," I say. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not spend my first night here in the middle of a forest."

Harpie's Brother nodded motioned for me to lead the way.

~1 hour later~

Okay, mental note, just because a forest doesn't have that many trees in it does _not_ mean that it's hard to get lost.

"Would've been nice to know beforehand that this free world map they give you is unbelievably vague, and that I have to buy local maps from nearby towns to clear it up faster," I grumble as I tried to consult my map to find a way out. "The only thing we can hope for is that we wander around enough that eventually we map out where the damn exit is."

Harpie's Brother put a hand on my shoulder reassuringly, making my smile softly at the gesture. He always was my most trusted card back when I played Yu-Gi-Oh. It's good to know that trust hasn't been misplaced. "Thanks for the support," I say with a grateful nod and continue forging ahead.

That was until a piercing howl filled the forest, making me stop in my tracks. "Well that can't be good," I noted as I clenched my fists, ready for a fight.

" _It's just a measly wolf, nothing we can't handle together,"_ a confident male voice said as Harpie's Brother readied his clawed bracer.

"Wait, did you just…?" I go to ask with a surprised look at Harpie's Brother, but shake my head, deciding it's a thought for another time, as a Silver Fang bursts out from a bush. I never really payed much attention to Monsters that weren't Wind Attribute, so I brought up my Bracer quickly to double-check its stats.

[Silver Fang]

[LP: 300]

[120 ATK/80 DEF]

'Alright, if I remember correctly from the tutorial, that means the Silver Fang has 40 Defense passively,' I noted mentally as the wolf lunged at me, only to get smacked down by a swipe of the Harpie Brother's clawed bracer, cutting down the beast's health by a staggering 140 LP.

"Nice shot," I said before taking advantage of the wolf's state by stomping on it repeatedly, which, sadly, only took off 10LP per hit, and I was only able to get in 3 strikes before I had to back up.

The wolf growled menacingly as it rose to its feet again, before trying to rush me again.

" _Match my timing!"_ the voice said again before Harpie's Brother blindsided the wolf, grabbing it by the neck before flying into the air. After he cleared the trees, the humanoid avian threw the wolf at me as hard as he could. Quickly running the math, I intercepted the wolf with a rising spin kick that hit for 10LP and made the wolf recoil upwards and back a bit before Harpie's Brother executed a diving slash with his bracer, cutting down the last of the Silver Fang's LP, causing it to shatter like glass while three coins fell to the ground and a '+30 EXP' rose into the air from where the wild Monster was felled.

[For defeating your first monster you've obtained 1 Upgrade Point!]

"Okay, that was awesome," I said with a goofy grin at the combo attack Harpie's Brother and I had just pulled off.

Harpie's Brother chuckled and ruffled my hair, making me laugh a bit before pushing his arm off of my head. Sighing to relieve myself of some of the leftover adrenaline, I then brought up my Bracer and opened the Upgrades Menu.

\- [Learn First Attribute Spell (Gust)]

\- [Learn Utility Spell (Levitate)]

\- [Learn Utility Spell (Warp)]

\- [Learn Healing Spell (Mend)]

"Oh, decisions, decision…" I muse out loud, prompting Harpie's Brother to peer over my shoulder at my choices before looking at me.

" _Go for the Attribute Spell,"_ he says to me. _"It'll give you more power in combat, and knowing you, I'm sure you can work the spell for_ defense _just as easily as offense."_

"Makes sense, plus Air is my favorite element," I reply before selecting the Attribute spell. Before I knew it, I felt like I had just crammed for a full hour in preparation for a test, making me grunt and lean on Harpie's Brother for support as my vision turned blurry and I felt like I was going to collapse.

When the sensation passed, I stood up and looked at my hands as the faint, emerald glow of magic power enveloped them. "Woah…" I whisper in awe. I then noticed a pop-up from my Bracer.

[You've learned your first Attribute Spell! The Power of these spells is dependent on your Attack Points. Spells of a matching element to your Attribute gain an extra +10 Attack Points, meaning that, currently, your Gust spell is used at 60 ATK. You can also increase the power of these spells by an additional +10 for every extra Upgrade Point you put into your base Spells]

"Okay, so levelling up my spells will be just as important as levelling up myself and my equipment," I muse while using my newfound Magic to bring the three gold coins to me with a gust of wind before hearing another Silver Fang's howl. It's near, but not directed at me, making me wonder who it could be after.

" _Follow me,"_ Harpie's Brother says, taking off in the direction the howl came from, with me following soon after.

After we reach where it came from, I blinked in surprise to see that a Silver Fang was currently staring down two women, one I recognized as Diana from the snow white hair, blue eyes and blue starter outfit, which was sleeveless and replaced the pants with a skirt. 'She did say she chose Water Attribute,' I remind myself before aiming my Bracer at the woman who was with her, whom I also noticed was carrying two crystalline shields that looked like snowflakes, one in each hand.

[Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier]

[LP: 400]

[170 ATK/90 DEF]

'If the monster's name is any indication, I'm guessing Diana ran a deck using these "Ice Barrier" monsters,' I note before watching as the battle unfolded.

The Dance Princess was a constant stream of motion, darting around the area and striking with such grace that I honestly felt like I was watching a ballet or something. All the while, Diana, who was given one of Dance Princess' shields, was playing lock-down on the Silver Fang, keeping it focused on her and negating its strikes with the 90 DEF boost from holding one of her monster's shields while setting it up for each of Dance Princess' attacks.

Three hits from the Spellcaster-type Monster later, and the Silver Fang shattered like glass, dropping three gold coins and 30 EXP for the pair and awarding Diana with her first Upgrade Point. I couldn't resist, I actually started clapping at the performance they put on.

"Who's - Cloud!" Diana says, startled, but with a smile after she'd whipped around and saw me standing there. "When did you get here?"

"Not long after that Silver Fang jumped you," I reply, stepping out of the brush, Harpie's Brother following close behind. "Sorry about not stepping in, but I was curious as to how you and your starter monster would do."

"Eh, it's fine," Diana says with a shrug, handing the shield back to Dance Princess before opening up her Upgrade Menu. "Let's see, Midnight's Boon, I'm going to pretend this next one doesn't exist, and Vampire's Fang, which do I want…?"

Curious, I peered over Diana's shoulder to see her Upgrade options as Dance Princess did the same opposite me.

\- [Midnight's Boon]

\- [Maggots' Mending (locks Vampire's Fang)]

\- [Vampire's Fang (locks Maggots' Mending)]

Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier looked to Diana, obviously to make a suggestion, but I couldn't hear whatever she was saying at the moment. Diana looked at her and nodded, though, so she clearly agreed with whatever the suggestion was, before picking Vampire's Fang.

I'm not gonna lie, what followed was rather painful to watch, and I imagine it felt even worse for Diana since she was the one undergoing the transformation. The girl suddenly seized up before collapsing to the ground, clutching at her heart with a cry of pain. I honestly felt worried for Diana as she tried to stifle further cries of pain while she underwent the transformation, but something kept me rooted in place as her body was changed. I couldn't watch as the fangs grew in, but I did see her skin lose a little of its color.

When Diana finally stopped trying to bite back screams and instead started panting heavily, I deemed it safe to see if she was alright. "Diana? You okay?" I ask, worried as I help the girl struggle to her feet. Her skin also felt a bit colder than a normal person's body, guess that's something that'll happen more and more as she spends upgrade points now that she's a vampire.

"Y-yeah, I-I'm-I'm good," she stutters as she gets on her feet, though she's still leaning on me for support until she can stand properly, and it's now that I'm barely able to see the pearly-white fangs poking out from behind her lips. It was also at that point that Diana and I heard a ping from my Bracer and her own, which I only _now_ noticed was blue and shaped like a bat's wing, indicating that our Bracers had registered us as friends. It was soon after that happened that several howls pierced the quiet, drawing the attention of Diana, myself, and our respective Monsters.

" _More of 'em, inbound,"_ Harpie's Brother says, readying his clawed bracer. _"Seems like we merely dealt with the scouts, and now we get to face the pack."_

 _That_ certainly got me on edge and Diana on her feet without support as five Silver Fangs jumped out of the bushes to confront us.

" _Harpie's Brother and I can handle two apiece,"_ Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier says, with me actually able to hear her now, confirming in my head that people registered as friends by their Bracers can hear each other's Monsters. _"Think the two of you can handle one together?"_

" _I'm sure they can,"_ Harpie's Brother quips as he takes a ready stance. _"After all, with him at her side, their combined Attack is effectively 110 while he's using his magic."_

I chuckle and shake my head before readying my magic as Diana takes a ready stance. "I know you just got done with your transformation, but I'm gonna have to ask that you keep the Silver Fang's attention," I say to my new battle partner. "I have my magic now, so I'll keep range and support you with my Gust spell. Since you took that Transformative, you might be able to heal any damage you take."

"I can't, not right now, anyway," Diana says, looking over the perks of her transformation. "Says here my Attack needs to beat their full Defense in order to heal using my new fangs."

"Right, so hopefully we level up from this so that I can learn some healing magic," I say as we brace ourselves for the fight. From the corner of my eye, I watched Harpie's Brother get the attention of two of the Silver Fangs by doing the traditional "come at me" gesture, while Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier created a… well, ice barrier, trapping another two Silver Fangs with her, leaving Diana and I to deal with the Silver Fang that was in the middle of the pack.

The Silver Fang decided that Diana was the easier target and made to pounce the recently-turned Vampiress, only for me to blow it back with a Gust, dealing 20LP damage to the Beast-type and sending it sprawling, giving Diana an opening to charge at the wolf and stomp on it twice for another 20 damage before having to back up as the wolf got back up, growling menacingly.

It was clear that this Silver Fang might be the pack's leader since it quickly changed its attention from Diana to me since, oh wait, the Spellcaster did more damage per hit than the Vampiress. Thinking quick, I cast Gust on Diana and myself, but I made an alteration to how the spell flowed to cause the winds to swirl around us. What all this would do I had no idea, but if I did it right, I just figured out a windshield, so hopefully it'll give us _some_ measure of protection. This turned out to let the Silver Fang have a chance to try to pounce on me, probably trying to tear my face off.

Keyword being "try", as Diana quickly grabbed the wolf by the tail as it passed her and slammed it into the ground for 10 damage, dazing the beast and allowing me time to fire off 4 Gust spells like a burst of automatic fire for a total of 80 damage while Diana stomped on it 3 more times for 30 damage total before the wolf recovered from our assault. 'Okay, we've got it to just below half health, we can do this!' I think to myself as Diana and I regroup.

The Silver Fang growled before looking to its right, just in time for Harpie's Brother to cut down the second Silver Fang as he'd already dispatched the one. Looking to its left at the ice rink, it could hear the sounds of the Dance Princess' shouts as she was, likely, almost through with her two.

It clearly decided that avenging its pack took precedence over survival as it tried to pounce Diana and I and tear us limb from limb. I used Gust to give Diana wings of air as she met it mid-pounce with a flying kick, surprising us both as it ended up doing 70 and sent the wolf flying back to the ground.

I recovered first and fired off three more Gusts for a total of 60 damage and bringing the wolf down to its last legs as it stood up shakily before it tried to pounce us one last time, only for Diana to finish it off with a flip kick that took away the last 10 LP the Beast-type Monster had, making it shatter like glass, dropping 3 coins and 30 EXP for the both of us.

[You've leveled up!]

[+1 Upgrade Point, +100 LP, +10 ATK, +10 DEF]

I smiled and high-fived Diana at how well we did against the Silver Fang, Dance Princess' Ice Barrier melting soon after to show that she'd taken care of both of her Silver Fangs while Harpie's Brother presented me with 6 coins and a Silver Fang card.

"Thanks," I say, noticing that Dance Princess did the same with Diana. The two of us then look to the 3 coins that were dropped by the Silver Fang Diana and I had fought, then to each other.

"So, how do we wanna split the money from that one?" I ask, deciding to address the obvious problem while motioning to the 3 coins. "There are three coins, and only two of us."

"Hmm…" Diana hums, closing her eyes in thought for a bit before looking to me while holding up the Silver Fang that Dance Princess had given her. "How about I take the coins and you can have the Silver Fang Dance Princess gave me?"

"Works for me," I reply, taking the Silver Fang before Diana goes and collects the three coins. While she was doing that, I decided now would be a good time to pick up that healing spell, so I opened my Upgrade Menu and browsed my options to see which Attribute spells were unlocked before picking Mend from the list of available spells. Fortunately, I was better prepared for the sudden light-headedness that came from the rush of information as the knowledge of healing magic and how it worked flooded my mind while the power to use it did the same within my very soul. I still stumbled a bit from the sensations, though, and Diana was quick to rush to my side and support me as the feeling of dizziness wore off.

"What was that?" Diana asked, worry filling her voice.

"Just picked up some healing magic," I explain. "Something like this happened when I picked up my first attribute spell. It would seem that whenever a Spellcaster-type player learns a new spell, their mind and soul are flooded with information and power, respectively, to unlock the spell."

"Ah," Diana replies as I find my balance again and stand as she lets me go, before opening up her own upgrade menu and looking over her choices briefly before selecting Midnight's Boon. Like me, she was better prepared for what followed, but I returned the favor and supported her as she clutched at her heart again and I saw her skin lose more of its color, and she got a little colder to the touch.

"You alright?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm good," she says as she looks at the effects of gaining Midnight's Boon. "Okay, so with this I get an extra +20 attack and defense at night."

"We're gonna be making night runs a thing for us, I can tell," I quip before looking to Harpie's Brother. "Don't suppose you know a way out of here?"

" _Yeah, I saw a town when I flew over the trees during our first encounter,"_ Harpie's Brother says while motioning with his arm for the rest of us to follow. _"Let's go. I'll take point."_

Diana and I look to each other and nod as we start following him, Dance Princess bringing up the rear while idly spinning one of her snowflake shields with her finger like it was a hula hoop.

* * *

 **And that's the chapter. Next time, Cloud and Diana reach the village of beginnings and start gearing up for their future endeavors, and acquire two influential Monsters who'll be helping them out more diplomatically. Also, before anyone says anything, yes, I know that these first few chapters are largely similar to the chapters that have been released for Alpha Gear Chronicles. This is semi-intentional on my part as both stories have, for the most part, similar beginnings in how the main characters began their new lives in Virtual Reality.**

 **Now, Phoenix has told me that Guilds in a Data Life virtual world needs 5 willing members to start up. With that in mind, I'll be bringing in 3 more personal OCs to form the core Guild. Cloud and Diana, obviously. I'll also be bringing in a Kitsune ninja eventually, and for the fourth member, I'm currently debating between a Pyro and Thunder-type, need to get as much elemental power as I can, after all. The fifth member I'm keeping a secret since I still need to work them out fully. For now, however, I have a chapter of Remnant's Skybound Striker to finish, as well as a Reading chapter to finish and another Reading fic I still need to start, so until next time, this is Spiceracksargent001: signing off.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Village of Beginnings

**Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here, with Chapter 3 of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers. This is mostly the introduction to the Village of Beginnings, with Cloud and Diana getting their gear upgraded, and Cloud picking up a _very_ special friend who will be getting a lot of scene time further down the road.**

 **Props go to Phoenix Champion's Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles, for inspiring me to make this story. Check it out, it's in the early stages, like mine, but it's still a very good read. Love your work, Phoenix, keep up the good work.**

 **So, without further ado, on to the story!**

* * *

After a bit of walking, our little group of two players and two Monsters reached the small village that Harpie's Brother found, which, according to my world map, was called 'Village of Beginnings'. It was a nice place, all things considered. Pretty simple looking, but it has a rather welcoming feel to it all.

"Finally," Diana sighs while stretching. " _So_ glad to be out of that forest."

"At least we know where this place is now so we can rest up after any future excursions," I reply distractedly while looking at a tutorial notification that had appeared in my Help menu after we entered the village. I went silent for a bit to read it before relaying the information to Diana. "Okay, so, according to the tutorial we just got, Villages, Towns, and Cities are classified as safe areas, meaning that we can unwind, shop, grab a bite to eat, and quick travel to any other settlements we've been to previously, and all players get their own Room which we can quick travel to, either from the Warp Gates in each settlement, or from our Bracers while in a settlement of any size, after reaching this very Village."

"Cool," Diana says as she suddenly grabs me by the arm and starts pulling me along. "Now come on, let's find the card shop so you can sell those Silver Fangs!"

"Woah!" I yelp in surprise as the vampiress starts dragging me, causing me to stumble as I try to regain my footing as we walk. "I can walk fine on my own, Diana!"

A snicker and giggle from behind us made me glare at Harpie's Brother and Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier from over my shoulder as I struggled to regain my balance. " _Not helping_ , you two."

~5 minutes later~

After _finally_ convincing Diana to stop dragging me by the arm after about 3 minutes, we spent the following 2 minutes walking around town, just looking for the Card Shop.

" _I think that's it up ahead,"_ Harpie's Brother says, making us all stop and look as he pointed to a sign hanging from the roof of a nearby building. Said sign was of three cards being in the same manner as a hand from the card game.

" _Looks like it,"_ Dance Princess comments. _"Now let's head inside!"_

~inside the store~

"Welcome to the Starter Card Shop!" the shopkeeper said as our little group entered. Dude was an actual dwarf with this huge, red beard. Not exactly what I was expecting, but damn that is a nice beard. "This is probably your first time here, right?"

"Yes, sir," I reply with a nod.

"Well, let me tell you how things work around a shop, okay?" he says before motioning to an open room with three walls that had various cards stored behind glass cases in a 10x6 grid on each wall. "Now then, if you'll direct your attention to those walls over there, you can see our stock on full display. When you're looking at a card, you'll see a price and a button to the just below and to right the card's display. Just press the button to receive the card, but unless you pay for the card, it'll vanish if you try to leave, so keep that in mind if you try to rob me. Also, if you're looking to sell any cards, just hand them to me."

Well, if it's that easy, might as well sell those Silver Fangs now before I go shopping. "How much for these?" I ask, holding up the two cards.

"Three coins each," he answers immediately. I nodded and gave the shopkeep the two Silver Fangs, getting six coins in return.

"You get a lot of Silver Fangs or something?" Diana asks.

"Lady, you don't know the half of it," he replies with a chuckle as the four of us then head into the storeroom to look over the merchandise. One thing all four of us immediately noted was that Spells were to our right, Traps to our left, and Monsters right in front of us.

" _Hey, is that…?"_ Harpie's brother muses out loud, earning a look of confusion from me before he flies over to the Monster cards, right in front of whatever it was that caught his eye. _"Hey Cloud! Check out who I just found!"_

Curiosity taking over, I walked over to see what Harpie's Brother was talking about, and who he was pointing to made my jaw drop.

Wynn the Wind Charmer sold for 3 coins.

"No way, it's Wynn," I say, pleasantly surprised. "She always made a nice trap against fellow Wind duelists with her decently high Defense and flip effect, and her Familiar Possessed form helped me out a fair bit back when I played, so she's a good friend."

I couldn't have pushed the button for one of her cards any faster if I'd tried. Smiling at the card, I then looked to Dianna and Dance Princess. "Well, I've found who I'm buying. See anything you want?"

"Well, I would've bought some health cards," Dianna starts, shrugging, "but I'm a Vampire now, and you've got healing magic, so…"

She didn't finish, and I honestly didn't need her to to know that she didn't see anything that really caught her interest, and I nodded before giving back three of the six coins I'd gotten from the Silver Fangs before showing the shopkeeper Wynn's card.

"Buyin' a Charmer, eh?" the shopkeeper said with a smile. "Those have unique properties in this world, lad. Charmers can help you communicate with Monsters of any type so long as their Attribute matches the Charmer's, and they can Merge with other Monsters of their Attribute to enter their Familiar Possessed state, which gives a large boost to their power. The overwhelming majority of Fiends don't take too kindly to the Charmers, though, so even if you have one out, you're still gonna have to fight a Fiend of matching Attributes before a Charmer's diplomacy has any prayer of working."

"Good to know," I reply while sliding Wynn into my Bracer's deck holder. After that, Diana waved me along, but the shopkeeper spoke up as I turned to follow her out.

"By the way, do either of you know about 'Open Market' days?" he asks, prompting Diana and I to look at each other and shrug before turning back to the dwarf.

"Can't say that we do," I reply.

"Okay, so, every Sunday the Open Market is, well, open," he explains. "The Open Market allows Players to set up stalls and sell the cards they've collected to other players, who do so looking for a discount. Now, this is not without limits, but it's only with regards to the sale of Monster Cards. At a village like this place, you can only sell Monsters up to and including Level 4, a Town lets you sell Standard Monsters of any level, and in a City, you're also able to sell Fusion Monsters, Ritual Monsters, Synchro Monsters, and other such Monster Cards. Spells and Traps you can buy and sell anywhere"

"Huh, neat," I reply before thanking the shopkeeper as I leave with Diana. Dance Princess is in front of me almost immediately after we'd left the shop..

" _So, can we meet your new friend?"_ she asks with a warm smile on her face and her head tilted in a way that could only be described as cute.

I blink at how fast she moved considering that Harpie's Brother and I are supposed to be the fast ones given our Attribute before smiling and pulling out Wynn's card. "Sure, may as well let her get acquainted with my new travelling companions," I reply while placing her in my Bracer's second Monster Slot, causing a ball of wind to form next to me before it disperses to reveal my favorite Charmer. I smile at the Wind Charmer fondly and pet her head. "Hey there, Wynn."

Wynn smiled brightly and hugged me not even a second later. I laugh a bit and pet her hair again as the former Gusto just about purrs in joy.

"Aww, she's so precious~" Diana coos as she watches this. Harpie's Brother watches on in amusement as the vampiress and even Dance Princess start fawning over the Wind Charmer. Unfortunately, it seems that Wynn's the shy type, as suddenly having Diana and Dance Princess fawning over her made the Wind Charmer turn as red as Hiita's hair before hiding behind me in embarrassment. I chuckle a little and rub the young Spellcaster's hair to try and calm her down, which works, a little.

"Alright, you two, I think you should ease up a bit," I chide gently as I push Diana and Dance Princess back a little. "You're making Wynn nervous."

Diana and Dance Princess pout, but nod with a unison sigh as they rein themselves in as I continue trying to coax Wynn out from behind me, which I do by the time we reach a shop with a sign hanging outside, the image on it being of a sword going through an empty hauberk, which told us that it was the Weapon/Armor shop.

"Welcome!" The shopkeeper, who looked like the earlier dwarf's nearly identical twin, the main difference being that he was the height of a regular person, said as our little group entered the shop. "Would you like to know how armor shops work?"

I look to Diana, who shrugs before I turn back to the shopkeeper. "Sure."

"Alright, I'm guessing by how the lad has two Monsters with him you lot've already been to the Card Shop, yeah?" he asks, getting a nod from Diana and I. "Then that makes my explanation easier. We use the same setup as the Card Shop, but you get an invoice card for the weapons and armor of your choice when you press the button. Bring the card, or cards, to me with the appropriate payment, and the items will be sent straight to your inventory."

With that, Diana and I nod our heads and head into the main area, our Monsters following us. After a bit of looking around, Diana and I found what we wanted. I ended up picking some Iron Armor - nothing too heavy, mind, just a shirt made of chainmail, and a Longbow made of Oak wood. Diana grabbed invoice cards for an Iron Scythe and a Leather Bodysuit that, when I looked at it, seemed like it was made for female Winged-Beast players, as it had a very Harpie Lady vibe to its design: complete with skintight snugness, no sleeves, and short pant legs.

The two of us then went up to the counter and made our purchases. I ended up ten coins poorer since I went for the Chainmail with my longbow, while Diana's armor and weapon cost her nine coins.

"Hey, Spellcaster boy," the Shopkeeper says after Diana and I complete our purchases, getting our attention. "Since you bought a Bow, I suppose it's only right to tell you now that arrows are free, so you don't ever have to worry about running out of ammo."

"Well, that'll definitely be helpful," I mutter, already going over the possibilities of what I could do with my bow. Wonder if I could use my magic to empower the arrows with different properties based on the element. With that, I give him a wave as we head out of the store and equip our new gear. Almost immediately I noted that Chainmail apparently goes under clothing, if the fact I saw my chainmail shirt's sleeves extending past the short sleeves of my linen shirt was any indication, and saw a status screen as my Attack and Defense went up from the new equipment, and saw my list of spells.

[ATK: 60-80]

[DEF: 60-100]

[Spells: Gust (Wind) - 70-90 Power, Mend (Healing) - 50 Power]

"Nice," I muse quietly before looking to Diana, and saw that I was definitely right about the overall look of the bodysuit - it took a lot of willpower to keep my eyes from wandering, and the vibe it gave off on Diana made her look more than a little frightening with that scythe resting on her back.

If I had to describe how she looked, I'd have so say she looked like… an alluring "Angel of Death", I guess is what I'm looking for. That, or a Succubus, anyway. She's missing the wings, and the spade-tipped tail in the case of that second option, but she could honestly pass for either in that bodysuit.

Unfortunately for me, Diana noted that I was having a hard time not staring and decided to be a troll by striking a pose that, thanks to the bodysuit, _really_ brought attention to her figure. "Like what you see, Mr. Red Mage?" She asks with a flirty tone and wink.

That got me blushing up a storm before I turn away in embarrassment, which wasn't helped by the way that Dance Princess and Harpie's Brother were laughing up a storm while Wynn tilted her head with a confused expression on her face.

" _Big brother?_ " Wynn asks, hitting me right in the feels, both from her adorably shy tone and confused look, as she got my attention. " _Why is the vampire lady posing like that? And why are you blushing?_ "

"I'll tell you when you're older," I reply almost immediately, prompting Wynn to hit me in the feels again by pouting a bit before nodding in acceptance, giving me room to sigh in relief before taking a deep breath to calm myself down.

~one hour later~

After we all calmed ourselves down, we just wandered around until we, eventually, reached a cafe for some food. This may be a VR world accurate to the point of allowing for pregnancy and childbirth, but we're still humans in here, so we need to eat. Although, I guess Diana would probably be classified as a Vampire while in here now that she took that transformative upgrade. Does that mean everything except blood tastes terrible to her now, or is that just something made up by various storyworlds across media? Something I'll have to ask after we start eating, just to be safe.

After pooling our money together for a bite to eat, the only thing within our price range was a plate of nachos, and even that took up the last of our money. Apparently Diana had the same question I did about how her transformative may have affected her taste buds as she was quick to grab a chip, dip it in the liquid cheese dip, and take a bite out of it after we sat down at a table.

"Verdict?" I ask.

Diana held up the index finger of her free hand, indicating she was still eating, before looking to me with a smile after she swallowed. "Tastes fine to me, so it looks like I can still eat people food." With that I nodded and started eat as well.

Looking around a bit as we ate, Dance Princess, Harpie's Brother, and Wynn also stealing a couple chips each because they wanted to try them, I idly noticed another, larger, group of people sitting not too far from us sharing a pizza and chatting, something about the Spellcaster in the group (at least, I assume she's a fellow Spellcaster, she has a Cloth Robe on, and that's typically spellcaster attire) wanting to do a night run to spend some time with her cousin from what I was able to hear.

"So, Cloud, wanna head out tonight for a night run?" Diana asks, catching my attention. I think about it a bit before nodding.

"Sure, it'll be interesting to see what the night holds," I reply with a smile before our entire table's attention is drawn back to the group I'd spotted earlier. Why?

"Awww man! Cheese on the wings again!"

Apparently the Winged-Beast girl in the group had pizza cheese droop onto her wings, and if her wording was to be believed, this isn't the _first_ time she's gotten cheese in her wings.

" _They should probably look into non-cheesey foods,_ " Harpie's Brother quips as he watches the girl fuss over her wings, which were also her arms in a similar manner to a Harpie Lady.

"Agreed," Diana, Dance Princess, and I reply in unison while Wynn nods silently, wondering why the bird lady was eating pizza in the first place if she didn't want cheese in her wings.

* * *

 **And there we have it, Chapter 3 complete. Man, it's been a long time since I've updated a story. Sorry for that, by the way, people, writing takes time, and my attention span is all kinds of random.**

 **Also, yes, the end of this chapter has the future Alpha Gear Guild make a cameo appearance. This is partly my way of giving another shout-out to Phoenix's story, but it's mostly my way of helping people get a sense of when Enter the Element Reavers happens in comparison to Alpha Gear Chronicles. Next time, I'll be doing things from Diana's perspective as she introduces people who have read my story and not Phoenix's yet to the Warp Gates and Player Rooms before skipping ahead to that night for her and Cloud to do their first Night Run.**

 **ELFI: As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated, and flamers will experience ECM attacks aimed at their comments.**

 **Spice: Until next time, this is Spiceracksargent001, signing out!**


	4. Chapter 4 - This Could be a Problem

**Spice: Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here, with the newest episode of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers.**

 **ELFI: Spiceracksargent001 claims no ownership of the Yu-Gi-Oh Franchise, nor of the storyworld this story takes place in.**

 **Spice: Yeah, once more, props to Phoenix Champion and his Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles for inspiring this work. Anyway, in this chapter, Cloud and Diana begin their Night Run, but not all is fun and games for them this night. You'll have to find out what I mean for yourselves, so now, on to the story!**

* * *

[Diana's PoV]

After we finished eating, Cloud and I left the cafe and started just walking around, looking around the village for the Warp Gate. Wynn was practically glued to Cloud's side as she held his hand, and I'd honestly think the Wind Charmer was his little sister instead of his second Monster if I didn't know any better. Dance Princess was at my side idly twirling one of her shields around her index finger and Harpie's Brother was walking behind and to the left of Cloud, like a bodyguard or something.

" _Don't they look so precious together?"_ Dance Princess coos softly. _"They're like brother and sister with little Wynn so close to him."_

"I know what you mean," I whisper back. "I'm have a hard time keeping myself from fawning over how cute they look."

"You two _do_ realize Wynn and I can hear you, right?" Cloud asks suddenly, startling Dance Princess and me as we look at him raising an eyebrow at us from over his shoulder while Wynn seemed to be clinging to his side a bit more tightly, probably out of embarrassment. The mage/archer was also petting the Wind Charmer's hair to try and calm her down. The entire scene made me avert my eyes and shrink into myself a bit as I felt my cheeks beginning to heat up, which wasn't helped by the way I could hear Harpie's Brother snickering at me and Dance Princess, since I somehow knew she had a similar reaction to me.

'Get a hold of yourself, Diana,' I mentally scold myself as I try to reign myself in. 'You're supposed to be his traveling partner, not some hormonal school girl.'

~A few minutes later~

After a few more minutes of walking, we _finally_ found the Warp Gate, basically the Quick Travel system that lets players go from one place to the next. I don't know about Cloud, but I wanted to be rested for our night run, and while we _can_ access our rooms directly from our Bracers, I figured it'd be a good idea to know where the Warp Gate here is for future reference. I know we at least had the same thoughts on that last one, since he's been the one in front this entire time.

Or maybe he didn't want me to start dragging him around again. Could go either way, I suppose…

"Alright, well, here's the Warp Gate," Cloud says, drawing me from my thoughts as he looks at me. "When did you want to meet up so we can do this night run?"

"Hmm…" I hum, thinking about it. "How does 8 o'clock sound?"

"Works for me," Cloud says as he heads to the Warp Gate. "I'll see you then, I guess." With that, he enters the Warp Gate and vanishes. Seeing as this is the only settlement we've been to, there really was no question that he was going to his room and not another settlement.

"Well, time to get some rest, then," I say before stretching a bit, then copying Cloud and heading to my room via the Warp Gate.

My room was… rather empty, to say the least. It was a decently large room with nothing in it but a Double-size bed with blue sheets on it, a chest for storing weapons, a wardrobe for clothing and armor storage, a table with a metal card case for storing extra cards, and… that's it, basically. If I still had money, I'd bet 3 coins that Cloud's room was the exact same layout as mine, but with green sheets on the bed instead of blue.

"Guess I'll have to go furniture shopping at some point," I muse before looking at Dance Princess. "I'll see you in the evening, Dance Princess. You're dismissed for now." With a nod and a smile from her, I take Dance Princess' card off its Monster slot and into my Bracer's empty deck holder before taking it off and putting it on the table next to the card case after setting an alarm before putting my Scythe in the chest and my Starter Uniform and Leather Bodysuit into my wardrobe before jumping into bed to rest up for mine and Cloud's night run.

Yes, I like to sleep naked whenever possible. Moving on.

~later that evening~

I wake up with a yawn as my Bracer's alarm went off. Sitting up with a much more drawn-out yawn, I stretch a little before shutting off the alarm. "Note to self: see if there's any way to change the alarm ringtone to something other than that incessant beeping," I grumble before making my way to my wardrobe to change back into my Leather Bodysuit.

~A few minutes later~

Dance Princess and I were leaning against one side of the Warp Gate following me getting dressed in my armor, grabbing my Scythe, and putting on my Bracer since as I'm not allowed out of my room without it. Cloud came out of the Gate a few seconds later, Harpie's Brother at his side, his bow slung around his shoulder running parallel to his quiver of arrows and… carrying a half-asleep Wynn in his arms…?

"She didn't want her card taken off the Bracer since she wanted to sleep with me," he explains, apparently anticipating the question that I was about a second away from asking.

"Ah," I utter in understanding before looking around. Sure enough, night is basically here, as the sky is dark with a fully simulated night sky, complete with stars and a moon hanging overhead. Most of the windows of the buildings around us are shut, with a few open and fewer still illuminated with candlelight. In fact, just about the main source of light in the immediate area is the swirl of the Warp Gate.

"Well, since we're basically ready, I think we should head out," Cloud says, gently shaking Wynn awake. It took a lot of willpower to stop myself from fawning over the Wind Charmer again as she mumbles incoherently and rubs her eyes sleepily. There should be a law against the amount of adorableness that little girl is emitting, dammit! "You're the one who suggested this little excursion, Diana, so where to?"

"Well…" I trail off, having honestly not given that a whole lot of thought 'til just now.

~10 minutes later, in Beginner's Forest~

"Back here again, I guess," Cloud comments as he looks around.

" _This place does have fairly low-level spawns,_ " Harpie's Brother comments, looking at Wynn, who was still fading in and out of consciousness in Cloud's arms. " _If we're lucky, we may even be able to find a Petit Dragon for Wynn._ "

"That's right, according to the lore, Petit Dragon is her Familiar," Cloud muses, looking at Wynn as well, "and in this place, a Charmer can merge with a monster of matching Attribute to go Familiar-Possessed. I imagine that it'd be a pretty safe wager that asking a Familiar to do the whole merging thing would be a hell of a lot easier than trying to get any other Monster to merge with a Charmer."

"Well, I'm gonna stick with you just in case," I reply as I look to him. "Safety in numbers and all."

"Sounds good," Cloud replies as he looks to Harpie's Brother, the two sharing a nod before the Winged-Beast takes flight. He then looks to me. "He'll be scouting for any Petit Dragons that may be out late tonight. In the meantime, we are free to do whatever."

I can't help the mischievous smirk that crept onto my face as he says this. "Well then, let's go!" I call as I grab his hand and start pushing him, making the Spellcaster stumble. "I wanna see if we can find any loot boxes!"

"Woah!" He calls out in surprise, trying to keep a hold of Wynn so that she doesn't fall to the ground. "I can walk just fine, Diana!"

-Same time, no P.o.V.-

At the same time as the two began trekking deeper into the Starter Forest, a slender figure drops onto the lowest branch of a nearby tree, landing on its feet. Heterochromic eyes - one a beautiful shade of violet; the other a vibrant crimson - narrow fiercely as the figure watches them walk off, waiting for them to disappear from sight before jumping down to ground level before stepping out of the tree's shadow, allowing the moonlight to reveal their appearance.

It was a woman garbed in a cloth robe that was as black as a starless night with midnight blue - almost black - hair flowing down to the small of her back, and parted by a pair of black fox ears atop her head. Sheathed across the small of her back, and partially concealed by her hair, was a iron shortsword, while a pair of iron daggers rested in sheathes that were strapped to her forearms and concealed by the sleeves of her robe. Going off her appearance, the woman was around 20 years of age. On her right forearm was her Bracer, black as night and shaped like a white-tipped fox tail coming from a shield that served as her deck holder.

Drawing the two cards in her deck, the woman placed them on her Bracer's summoning slots, calling forth her monsters: a Command Knight and Silver Fang. "Track the Sky Scout," she instructs, turning first to the wolf before looking to the knight at her side. "They are looking for a Petit Dragon, and I saw a Wind Charmer in the bowman's arms. We will ambush them while the Charmer is acquiring her Familiar."

" _Yes, ma'am,"_ the Command Knight replies with a salute before she turns to watch the Silver Fang, who quietly barks and affirmative before walking over to where Cloud and Diana were previously, sniffing around for the scent of Harpie's Brother, picking it up after about 10 seconds before leading the two women through the woods.

"We will have to exercise some caution," she advises as the three get underway. "It is night, so the Vampiress may be more powerful than she would be during the day."

-10 minutes later, Diana's P.o.V.-

Ugh, I am so _bored_! It's been ten minutes since we started walking through this forest. Thankfully Wynn was on her feet now, so Cloud had his bow drawn and an arrow in his right hand, ready to knock it for a shot or stab something with it. "Okay, not that I'm complaining, but I wish _something_ would happen already!"

It was, of course, at that moment that we were set upon by a swarm of eight Meda Bats, prompting Cloud and Dance Princess to look at me. "You just _had_ to say it, didn't you?" they ask simultaneously before returning their attention to the Fiends staring us down. Beside Cloud, Wynn tightened her grip on her staff as he knocked the arrow he'd drawn.

"Looks like eight of these things," Cloud observes, apparently doing something to his arrow as I saw the winds begin to stir and enter the arrow. "Let's divide and conquer. Wynn and I will take the four on the right, you and Dance Princess get the ones on the left."

Deciding to figure out what the Spellcaster was up to with the arrow later, I nodded and looked to Dance Princess, who nodded before erecting a wall of ice right in the middle of the swarm, startling the Meda Bats and forcing them to split into two groups of four. I was still able to see Cloud and Wynn, though, so I took the bats' surprise to do some quick scans.

[Meda Bat: Dark/Fiend. Lvl 2. HP: 200, ATK: 80, DEF: 40 (20 passive)]

[Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier: Water/Spellcaster. Lvl 4. HP: 400, ATK: 170, DEF: 90 (45 passive]

[Wynn the Wind Charmer: Wind/Spellcaster. Lvl 3. HP: 300, ATK: 50, DEF: 150 (75 passive)]

[Cloud Skywind: Wind/Spellcaster. Lvl 2. XP: 20/200. HP: 600, ATK: 80, DEF: 100.

Spells: Gust lvl 1 (Attribute Spell, PWR = ATK+10), Mend lvl 1 (Healing Spell, PWR: 50)]

[Diana Dust: Water/Zombie. Lvl 2. XP: 20/200. HP: 600, ATK: 80 (100), DEF: 80.

Abilities: Vampire's Bite (Heal by biting, must beat full DEF), Midnight's Boon (+20 ATK at night)]

Nodding at the information I'd gotten, I smirked a bit as I drew my Scythe, putting my fangs on full display for the flying eyeballs. These bats clearly didn't know who they were messing with. Ever since I'd stepped out of the Warp Gate, I could feel the effects of Midnight's Boon filling my body. I felt light on my feet and I could feel newfound strength flowing through me as I basked in the moon's silver glow. "Come on, then," I coo maliciously as I spin the scythe around in my hand. "Let's dance~"

That seemed to get the Meda Bats back into action as they started shooting beams of dark energy from their eyes at Dance Princess and me. We both pirouette out of the way before charging in at the same time I see Cloud start to shoot - and holy hell did that arrow _fly_. Second he released the thing, damn arrow as out of sight so fast I think it may have started approaching the sound barrier, and he was drawing another arrow, and already doing whatever he did to the first one.

Focusing back on my own targets, I jumped up with my new strength and slammed my scythe into two of the Meda Bats at once, dealing 80 damage to both and knocking them to the ground while Dance Princess fired ice shards at the other two, freezing them over and dealing 150 damage before they fell to the ground, the ice shattering, but leaving them protected from potential fall damage at the cost of dazing them. I finished them off with a sweep of my scythe while Dance Princess finished off the other two with a spinning slash from a pair of literal ice skates on her boots as she ballet twirled in place with the two Meda Bats within leg's reach. The entire thing had netted us a total of 80 XP, 8 Coins, and two Meda Bats. When the Ice barrier came down, I was treated to the sight of Wynn finishing off the last of the Meda Bats she and Cloud were dealing with.

"So, get anything from those Meda Bats?" I ask, slipping the two cards I'd gotten into my deck holder and began collecting the eight coins I'd gotten.

"Just XP for Wynn and myself and eight coins," he replies before ruffling Wynn's hair with a smile on his face, making the Charmer giggle happily at doing well in her first battle. He then used Gust to bring all of his money to him before pocketing it. "Though, I suggest we start sweeping this area. If there was a Meda Bat swarm, then there may be something good nearby."

I nod as Dance Princess and I start looking around while Cloud does the same with Wynn. I hope Cloud's right about there being something here…

-5 minutes later-

" _I found something!"_ Wynn calls out, getting our attention. Sure enough, when all of us gathered by her to look, we saw a wooden Loot Box hidden behind a bush.

"Jackpot," Cloud says before looking to Wynn and rubbing her head with a smile. "Nice job, Wynn. That was pretty good of you."

I swear, that girl could kill someone with how cute she is, the Wind Charmer was positively _beaming_ at Cloud's praise. _"Thank you, big brother,"_ she purrs with a smile that could rival the cuteness of a kitten.

" _Who cares?! Treasure!"_ Dance Princess cries out excitedly, her eyes sparkling at the thought of the Coins hidden inside the Loot Box. _"Let's split it, 70/30."_

"Nice try, Dance Princess, 50/50," Cloud retorts coolly, making her pout before he cracks it open. It was only, like, 36 Coins, which we'd split evenly, so we were both 18 Coins richer. Not long after, Harpie's Brother dropped down from the tree line.

" _I miss anything?"_ he asks, looking between us.

"Just a small horde of Meda Bats, nothing serious," Cloud replies with a wave of his hands. "Did get a Loot Box out of it, though, so Diana and I are each a collective 26 coins richer now."

"Yeah, speaking of those Meda Bats," I reply looking at Cloud. "What was that you did back there with that arrow? It went _way_ faster than any arrow I've ever seen shot."

"Tried pumping magic into my arrow to see what would happen," Cloud explained. "Got an arrow that not only went faster than normal; it hit for my Attack plus the power of my Gust, and looked like it even got Piercing. Last Meda Bat Wynn and I got was blocking after it saw what I'd done to its buddies, and I did about as much damage against it that the arrow would've done normally."

"Huh," I reply before we both look to Harpie's Brother.

" _Interesting. Either way, I've found a Petit Dragon,"_ he reports, making Wynn perk up instantly. _"Follow me, I'll take you to where I found it. It's also sleeping right now, Wynn; you may want to be a little careful with waking it."_

The Wind Charmer nodded as we began following Harpie's Brother. The forest was rather quiet now, so our trek was fairly peaceful, not that I'd be vocally complaining this time after that Meda Bat swarm. After about seven minutes, we were looking at the bush where we could barely make out a tiny, curled up little Dragon, if only because its lighter shade of green stood out from within the green of the bushes. Wynn immediately got this huge smile on her face as she made her way to the bushes, switching her staff from her left hand to her right as she began carefully and methodically moving the bushes out of the way so she could get a clearer look at the Petit Dragon.

-No P.o.V.-

It had taken at least 15 minutes of waiting as the Beast-Warrior was waiting for the archer and Vampiress to be brought here by the Sky Scout. Now they were here, and it was time for her to strike. Drawing her Daggers from their sheaths as quietly as she could, the woman then did a scan of her opposition.

[Diana Dust: Water/Zombie, Lvl 2. XP: 100/200. LP: 600, ATK: 80 (100), DEF: 80]

[Cloud Skywind: Wind/Spellcaster, Lvl 2. XP: 100/200. LP: 600, ATK: 80, DEF: 100]

[Harpie's Brother: Wind/Winged-Beast, Lvl 4. LP: 400, ATK: 180, DEF: 60]

[Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier: Water/Spellcaster, Lvl 4. LP: 400, ATK: 170, DEF: 90]

[Wynn the Wind Charmer: Wind/Spellcaster, Lvl 3. LP: 300, ATK: 50, DEF: 150]

The readout got the woman to blink. 'Wait, he's a Spellcaster, and has one of the original English releases of Sky Scout?' She questions mentally before shaking her head. 'Won't matter in this battle.'

Seeing Wynn go off to move the bushes, she began lining up her throws, aiming for Cloud and Diana before activating Armor Crush. Once she had her beads, she crossed her arms before throwing her Daggers, sending them flying at her targets. By her side, Command Knight and Silver Fang tensed, ready to pounce on her word…

-Diana's P.o.V.-

I watched as Wynn started to do her thing. Cloud had a smile on his face as well, but it faded as he started looking around for whatever reason. Soon enough, I heard what sounded like something being thrown…

That was about all the warning I got before I felt something stab me in the back earning a cry of shock and pain from me, before a quick glance at Cloud confirmed that he'd been hit too as I saw an Iron Dagger had stabbed him in his left arm before it just… vanished. I was confused, but that quickly gave way to alarm when I saw a pop-up appear before me.

 **[You've been afflicted with Armor Break! While this status is active, your DEF is reduced by a set amount. Warrior and Beast-Warrior type Players are capable of inflicting this status.]**

" _Big Brother!"_ Wynn cried out in surprise as she saw that we'd been attacked.

"Just do your thing, Wynn, we can handle whoever's attacking us while you do so," Cloud reassures, though I could tell he was hurt a bit by the fact the dagger had dug into his bow-holding arm. Bringing his right hand up to the wound, I could make out the glow of magic as he healed himself of the LP damage before doing the same for me.

The rustle of the underbrush caused us to turn around and see a woman step out from the shadows. She had on a black Cloth Robe, midnight blue hair parted by a pair of black fox ears, and the Bracer on her arm meant that she was a Beast-Warrior. What was worse, was that there was a Command Knight and a Silver Fang at her side.

Cloud and I glanced at each other, and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing.

'This could be a problem…'

* * *

 **Spice: And that's Chapter. Who could our enigmatic Beast-Warrior be? Find out in the next chapter!**

 **ELFI: The captain would like it mentioned before anyone complains, that this cliffhanger was quite intentional.**

 **Spice: Hey, haven't really done one of these before, gotta figure out how to make one at some point. Anyway, next time we switch to a third-person perspective as we watch Cloud and Diana battle their mysterious new foe. Until then, folks, this is Spiceracksargent001: signing out!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Serina Mordred

**Sorry for the delay, folks, Spiceracksargent001 here, bringing you the latest chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual, Enter the Element Reavers.**

 **ELFI: Special mention to The Phoenix Champion for inspiring the Captain to create this story. The Captain also does not claim ownership of Yu-Gi-Oh itself.**

 **Spice: So, in this chapter, we have our first PvP battle, Cloud and Diana vs. the mysterious Beast-Warrior chick! Who will win? Let's find out, shall we? So, without further ado, on with the story!**

* * *

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

This, is _not_ good. Practically the second Wynn went to talk with the Petit Dragon, Diana and I get ambushed by a Beast-Warrior chick and her Monsters. What's worse is that she'd gotten the drop on us by throwing Daggers at us with an ability that cut into our Defenses. I was now down to 90 DEF while Diana was down to 70, and given that I'd taken 30 damage before the DEF drop, this fox chick's ATK was 130.

"Quite a bit of nerve," I call to her, "attacking two Players from behind like that. Who are you, anyway?"

"Defeat me, and I may tell you," she replies coolly, drawing an Iron Shortsword in her left hand - and given that her Bracer's on her right arm, I'm guessing she's left-handed at best; ambidextrous at worst - and entered a stance that I'm pretty certain maint she was a practitioner of Japanese swordplay. Pulling up my Bracer even as I drew an arrow, I used the motion to scan her and her Monsters.

[Serina Mordred: Dark/Beast-Warrior, Lvl 3. LP: 700, ATK: 130, DEF: 90]

[Command Knight: Fire/Warrior, Lvl 4. LP: 400, ATK: 120, DEF: 190 (95 Passive)]

[Silver Fang: Earth/Beast, Lvl 3. LP: 300, ATK: 120, DEF: 80 (40 Passive)]

I cringed a bit, both from what she had with her, and from the lingering pain where her Dagger had embedded itself in my left arm as I knocked the arrow. She had a level on both Diana and I, and her Command Knight was no slouch either: that DEF meant there wasn't much we could do to hurt her when she was actively defending, and even my magic alone would only be able to hurt the Silver Fang...

-no P.o.V.-

Serina swept her gaze between Cloud, Diana, and the Monsters at their side. Harpie's Brother began flapping his wings as he hovered just off the ground, clawed bracer held at the ready, while Dance Princess took a much looser stance, snowflake shields held at her sides and radiating with arctic energy. At her own sides, Silver Fang lowered itself on its haunches, hackles raised and lips curled back, revealing razor-sharp canines as it growled menacingly. Command Knight, meanwhile, drew her sword and entered a more European-style ready stance compared to her own Kenjutsu stance. She was handicapped by the Village of Beginnings not having any Japanese weaponry - European blades, even a Shortsword and Daggers like she was current using, always felt too heavy and clumsy to her - but she would work with what she could get for now...

Her first priority would have to be Diana. It was still night out, and she knew the girl was the stronger of the two Players at the moment; unless Skywind had some way of magically empowering his arrows, there wasn't much he could do at the moment.

As if sensing her intent, Cloud's hands glowed emerald with magic power as the winds began to stir. Before Serina's eyes, the wind picked up and began to swirl around himself before doing the same with his partner. Curious, Serina reached into her sleeve before quickly tossing a dagger at Diana, only to watch as the dagger was caught by the wind and slowed enough that the Vampiress swatted the blade out of the sky with ease using the shaft of her scythe. Serina smirked in anticipation, it would seem these two will be a worthy challenge after all...

Nodding to her Monsters, Serina's Command Knight and Silver Fang began to circle outward as she herself took a step towards Cloud and Diana, who draws back his bowstring and holds her scythe out behind her, respectively. On an unspoken signal, the fight began, Harpie's Brother flew at Command Knight while Dance Princess created skates on her feet and froze the ground beneath and directly in front of her feet as she skated towards Serina's Silver Fang. Diana leapt towards Serina, who mirrored her vampiric opponent as sword blade clashed with scythe shaft, deadlocking the two.

Cloud, meanwhile, held his bow taut, channeling the winds into his arrow. Deciding to try something new, he began changing the shape of the arrow's enchantment compared to what he did before. Glancing to his left, he watched Harpie's Brother clash with Command Knight, clawed bracer and arming sword releasing a shower of sparks as their weapons deadlocked, and a quick glance to his right showed that Dance Princess easily had Silver Fang on the defensive as she jumped on the Beast-type Monster with her skates, slamming it into the ground with her literal ice skates impacting it right between the shoulders as she jumped off again and sticking the landed on a freshly-made patch of ice with a little twirl.

Returning his attention to his and Diana's opponent, Cloud let the arrow fly right as the Vampiress and Kitsune broke from their deadlock, striking the ground at Serina's feet before the winds began to stir, pulling against the Beast-Warrior type Player, who suddenly found it much harder to move. "What?!" he could hear her cry out in surprise before looking between the arrow and himself as he drew another arrow. Diana, in the meantime, took advantage of Serina's momentary distraction and rolled such that she was behind Serina before jumping up with a spinning slash, catching her opponent from behind with the scythe blade and launching her to the side, her wind bindings growing in length as the arrow keeps her tethered, though Diana admittedly was surprised at how quickly Cloud was developing ways to integrate his magic into his archery, and wasn't sure how the increased distance would affect what was obviously a tether, though she was certain it would still have some negative impact on Serina's mobility.

Diana looked back to Cloud, about to thank him for the assist, when she saw the Command Knight charge him right as their wind shields dropped. "Cloud! Behind you!" she shouted to her companion, who, rather than looking back, immediately dodge rolled to the side before firing another of his tethering wind arrows at the Command Knight's feet moments before Harpie's Brother swooped in and interposed himself between Serina's Monster and his Player.

Serina clicked her tongue as she found moving easier, but still impeded by the arrow, still lodged in the ground, that had previously been at her feet. That archer was quite clever, figuring out a way to enchant his arrow to impede his opponent's mobility. This was proving more interesting than she thought. Her gaze swept between the Cloud and Diana before looking past them to see Wynn watching from the edge of the battle, a card in the Wind Charmer's hand.

Sighing, Serina sheathes her sword and holds up her hand, motioning for her Command Knight and Silver Fang to stand down. "I yield," she says, further showing that she conceded defeat in this battle.

Cloud raises a skeptical eyebrow and looks to Diana, who returns his skeptical look with a shrug before they motion for Harpie's Brother and Dance Princess to stand down as well, but to remain on guard. "How do I know you're not just saying that to open us up to another surprise attack?" He asks.

"Your Wind Charmer has obtained her Familiar," Serina replies. "Once you'd have summoned it, I would only have a small window of opportunity to defeat the small dragon before you merged it with her, which would spell my defeat."

At that, Wynn deemed it safe to walk up to Cloud and hand him the card in her hand, with him nodding his thanks to the young Charmer and pat her head, earning a beaming smile from her. He then turned again to Serina and, seeing as she was serious in her surrender, pulls out the arrow tethering her, dispelling the wind bindings, returning it to his quiver before doing the same with the arrow he'd shot at Command Knight's feet. Once everyone had collected themselves and Cloud had healed everyone, they all gathered together to talk.

"My name is Serina Mordred," the Beast-Warrior player says, introducing herself. "Before I joined this virtual world, I ran a Beast and Warrior deck."

"Cloud Skywind, Wind Duelist," Cloud says, then shrugs. "No real theme, but, I suppose if I actually had to name one of the decks I've put together in my spare time, it'd have to be Harpy."

"And I'm Diana Dust," Diana says, introducing herself last. "I ran an Ice Barrier deck."

Serina nods as she looks around the clearing. "Perhaps further conversation would be best reserved for when we return to the Village."

"Agreed," Cloud says as he looks to Diana, Harpie's Brother, Dance Princess, and Wynn, who all nod in agreement before Wynn reaches up with her arms.

" _Up?"_ Wynn asks, making Cloud smile and chuckle before kneeling on the ground, allowing the Wind Charmer to climb on his back as the archer gives the now giggling young Spellcaster a piggyback ride as the group starts making their way back to the Village of Beginnings. Cloud also noted that he'd gotten an Upgrade Point thanks to Wynn netting him the Petit Dragon via diplomacy, but, with his hands full, he'd decide what to do with it later. He also shot Diana and Dance Princess a silencing look when he saw that they were about to fawn over Wynn again.

~Several minutes later, The Village of Beginnings~

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

"Well, here we are again," I say as I look up as best I can at Wynn, who's still clinging to my back, but starting to nod off.

"Yeah, maybe now we can-" Diana starts as she looks past me, only to cut off and look around in confusion. "Where's she go?"

Blinking, I look around and notice that Serina had vanished at some point during our walk back to the Village of Beginnings. "Huh, she was just next to us."

"Great," Diana groans in annoyance, "and she's the one who promised that we'd be able to talk to her more once we got here."

"Guess we'll just have to wait until we run into her again," I reply with a shrug, about all I could really do with Wynn clinging to my back.

Diana and Dance Princess look at me skeptically. _"What makes you so sure we'll see her again?"_ Dance Princess asks, snowflake shields connected to the back of her belt and arms crossed as she shifts her weight onto her right leg.

"Let's just say that I can feel it on the winds," I reply cryptically, looking up at the starry sky, Harpie's Brother nodding beside me. _"You always did have a sort of sixth sense for reading the wind and predicting things to come,"_ my ever-faithful companion replies. _"If you say we'll meet that Serina Mordred character again, then it's not a matter of 'if', but_ 'when' _. Besides, that Command Knight and I still have a fight to finish."_

"You'll get your chance, my friend," I promise. "You'll get your chance."

"Well, I'm exhausted," Diana says, interjecting herself back into the conversation. "Let's head back to our rooms so we can sleep and get ready. The Open Market is tomorrow, after all."

I nod. "Right. Let's get back to the Warp Gate."

-Serina's P.o.V.-

Having given Cloud and Diana the slip when we'd passed through the gate to the Village, I watched from a nearby rooftop as they began to leave for the Warp Gate, making plans for the Open Market tomorrow. Command Knight and Silver Fang watched from beside me, before Command Knight looked my way. _"Why did you have us split off from them?"_ she asks. _"I understand you logic of wishing to operate independently of others for now, but even the greatest of Knights require aid sooner or later."_

"The Archer intrigues me," I reply, keeping my gaze on Cloud until he's out of sight, my gaze still lingering where he'd vanished still as I continued. "Even so, I will not follow him yet. He must first prove his worth. Until he can truly best me in single combat, I will not follow him, nor will I allow him to fall before anyone but myself."

Command Knight nods, accepting my reasoning. _"Very well,"_ she replies. _"The dawn approaches, milady. As your humble servant, I must advise that you retire for the night. Tomorrow shall be a busy day."_

I nod and motion for my two companions to follow as I begin making my own way back to the Warp Gate. 'Cloud Skywind... I do hope that you don't disappoint me,' I muse in my thoughts as I jump onto the roof of the weapons and armor shop. 'For while I have admitted defeat to you this time, I will ensure that you will find victory to be much more elusive in the future. Only I am allowed to defeat you now.'

* * *

 **Bit short this time, but, hey, sometimes short is best. So, yeah, Serina Mordred has introduced herself, and seems to have something in mind with Cloud. What could she be planning? You'll just have to wait and see.** **Anyways, next time, we tackle the Open Market!**

 **ELFI: As always, the Captain welcomes and appreciates all constructive criticism that comes his way.**

 **Spice: And flamers will have their comments hit with ECM. So, until next time, this is Spiceracksargent001: signing off.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Open Market

**Spice: Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here, bringing you the next chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Elemental Reavers! In this Chapter, we see Cloud and Diana tackle the Open Market, where Cloud learns about a dangerous Guild and two of its members.**

 **ELFI: Spiceracksargent001 does not claim ownership of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, nor of the storyworld that is the setting for this story.**

 **Spice: Right, I'm able to make this story because Phoenix gave me his permission to use the storyworld he made for a story that runs parallel to one of his own, so if you haven't read the sister story to this yet, hop on over to Phoenix's profile and give Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles a read. I guarantee that you'll enjoy it. Alright, with the plug out of the way, on with the story!**

* * *

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

I stretched and yawned as I woke up the next morning. After what happened last night and after putting Wynn to bed, I'd spent the upgrade point she earned me powering up my Gust Spell. Ruffling Wynn's hair to wake her up, I then make my way over to my Bracer and slip it on before grabbing the newspaper I say next to my deck holder and opened it up to see what it had to say.

[Sunday is here! Open Market open today!]

"Obviously, but nice to have a weekly reminder like this," I mutter while looking up anything else of interest, and found two things.

[All shops running Discounts for Open Market]

Interesting to note, but it was the second thing that really grabbed my attention.

[Starter's Tournament announced - begins in one week!]

"A tournament, eh? Could be a good place to look for potential allies to form a Guild," I muse. "Probably should participate. It'll help me make a good impression on any participants I decide to try recruiting and get a feel for who all is new to this and might be interested in forming a Guild with fellow beginners so we can all get stronger together…"

With plans now forming and Wynn awake, if still a bit tired from our night run with Diana, the two of us head out to browse the Market.

-The Village of Beginnings Warp Gate-

Stepping out of the Warp Gate, I stretch a bit, basking in the morning sun as I get ready to start a day of shopping for field spells to do some much needed recruiting.

"Alright, ready to hit the market?" I hear Diana ask from behind me, making me turn to see that she had just walked out of the Warp Gate herself.

I smile and nod. "Yep," I reply as Wynn nods. "I hope you don't mind, Diana, but I was hoping to go look around for a bit alone, I wanna see if anyone's selling Field Spells that'll help me hunt down some good Wind monsters."

To my relief, Diana nods. "Sounds fair, I'm probably gonna wander myself, see if I can't find any Medallions of the Ice Barrier."

I'll admit, I was a bit curious. "I'll admit, I hadn't gotten that far in my reading up on how certain cards worked in this world. Care to fill me in on what those do here?" I ask.

"You did get to Dragon Capture Jar, right?" Diana asks, continuing only when I nod. "Medallions of the Ice Barrier work like Dragon Capture Jars, only instead of yielding Dragon-type Monsters, regardless ofAttribute, Archetype, and other special shit like Fusion and XYZ, Medallions of the Ice Barrier only yield Monsters from the Ice Barrier archetype when broken. Usually only one, but there's, like, a 1% chance of getting two Ice Barrier monsters with every Medallion. I want to get more of Dance Princess' people in my roster, and since the Ice Barrier has no Field Spells that I know of, those Medallions are my best bet for recruitment right now."

I nod, understanding now why she was interested in obtaining those Medallions. "Makes sense," I reply as Diana and I make our way to the market. After a couple of minutes of walking, we make it to the Market and look around at the mass of open-air stalls with people and, occasionally, their Monsters, selling cards. "Alright, see ya," I say with a wave that Diana returned as we split up to look for our own things.

Not even three minutes into the Market, I saw a guy wearing Buster Blader Armor with a Black Luster Soldier's helmet talking to someone with grey eyes and cowlicked brown hair in green tinted leather armor with a staff leaning against his side of the counter, the latter indicating that he was possibly a Wind-Spellcaster like myself, and a Milla the Temporal Magician next to him. There was too much background noise to really hear what they were saying as I made my way over, but as the guy in the Buster Blader armor left via teleport, I saw the stall owner turn back and say something, prompting, to my surprise, the same Dragon player I saw at the cafe yesterday to pop out of a chest. I was, thankfully, within hearing range as the Dragon player and the stall owner started talking.

"Who the hell was that, and why did I have to slip into a chest?" The Dragon player asked.

"No one knows his real name, or his face," the stall owner explains as he hands the Dragon player two cards and looks him dead in the eye. "Everyone just knows him by his moniker, The Dragon Hunter of Black Talon."

"What's Black Talon?" the Dragon player asked.

"Black Talon is a Guild," the stall owner's Milla explains. "But it's like a Mafia, minus the Italians."

"A little racist, isn't that?" the Dragon player replied.

"No, it's more accurate than racist," the stall owner replies, "and, unfortunately, they've been playing it safe, so the Admins can't ban their leader."

"But kid, you need to worry about Dragon Hunter," Milla warns.

"She's right," her Duelist adds on, "Dragon Hunter has a vendetta against Dragon Monsters and Dragon players and no one knows why. If he sees you, then pray for mercy."

"Got it," the Dragon player replies as he gets out of the stall. "I'm… gonna go meet up with my friends now." With that, the Dark Dragon player head out towards what I'm pretty sure is the village's Meld Shop.

In the meantime, the stall owner and his Monster look to me and, upon noting my expression of curiosity, sigh. "I'm guessing you heard all of that?" Milla asks.

"Well, I couldn't hear what that Dragon Hunter guy was saying while he was talking with you two, but after he left? Every word once the Dragon player popped out of the chest," I reply.

"Then you now know about the Black Talon Guild," the stall owner says, crossing his arms. "Word of advice, from one Spellcaster to another, be wary around anyone from Black Talon, but be especially on your guard if Lilith is anywhere in your general area."

"Lilith?" I parrot in question.

"Also known as The Demon Queen of Black Talon," Milla replies. "A Fiend-type player who, similar to Dragon Hunter's vendetta against Dragons, has it out for Spellcaster Monsters and Spellcaster players. Unlike the Dragon Hunter, however, who's more of a field agent, Lilith is their chief interrogator and professional spy."

"Lilith may seem warm and inviting at first, seductive and flirtatious, even, but don't let that fool you," the store owner warns gravely. "That's just a ruse the sadistic bitch uses to lure unsuspecting players into her web. I've had my fair share of run-ins with the Demon Queen in the past, and if half of the stuff I hear is true, then her brand of interrogation would be sadism the likes of which only a brilliant, hedonistic maniac could dream up if allowed the freedom to do whatever they pleased without repercussion from the Admins. As is, she walks the razor's edge and gets warnings from the Admins once or twice a month while still managing to satisfy those sick fantasies of hers."

I had to _work_ to suppress a shiver of dread at what I was hearing about this "Lilith" character; even then not fully succeeding, while Wynn was whimpering behind me and clinging to me tightly as tears of fright threatened to spill from her eyes. "Noted," I reply warily as I ruffle Wynn's hair, trying to soothe the frightened Charmer. While doing so, I silently vowed that no matter what happened to me, I was _**never**_ going to allow Lilith anywhere near the Monster that was quickly becoming my little sister in all but blood.

The man sighs and gives an apologetic smile. "Sorry for scaring you like that, but, well, the Black Talon isn't something a guy can just talk about casually, and a new player warned early is a player with the time and wherewithal to ready themselves for their inevitable run-in with an agent of Black Talon," he says before rapping his knuckles against the counter twice. "Anyhow, the name's Michael Spellman. I make it a habit to go out and find rare monsters to sell to new players to help get them on their feet. Feel free to take a look and see what you like."

Shaking my head to clear away the thoughts of Black Talon's Demon Queen for the moment, I look over what Michael has for sale. Sure enough, there were plenty of Monster Cards, and even some spell and trap cards too, with most of the spells being Field Spells, likely so new players have access to locations where they can find monsters easy.

Browsing his wares for a bit, I eventually picked up a Harpies' Hunting Ground for myself and an Eria the Water Charmer as a gift for Diana. If she wants to recruit Ice Barrier monsters, which are all Water Attribute if memory serves me right, then having Eria in her roster will help her out significantly on that front.

"How much for the Harpies' Hunting Ground and Eria?" I ask, indicating the two cards.

"21 Gold," Spellman replies. "You'll be saving 5 Gold that you would normally have to pay in the shops for Harpie's Hunting Ground, and Charmers helps with Monster Recruitment, so I make them as cheap as possible whenever I obtain copies of them."

"Deal," I reply, putting down the amount requested.

"Thank you for your business," Milla replies with a smile as Michael takes the money while she takes the two cards I'd bought off the table and hand them to me. "Come again next week to see what we'll have in stock by then, and remember our warning about the Black Talon and Lilith."

"I will," I reply, putting the Hunting Ground in my deck holder for now and keeping Eria's card in hand for when I meet up with Diana again. Waving to them, I walk away with Wynn in tow to find my traveling companion.

Sure enough, I found Diana and Dance Princess wandering around, looking lost before Diana smiles and waves to me as Wynn and I walk over. "Find what you're looking for yet?" I ask once our little group is back together.

Dance Princess frowns a little and shakes her head. "Not yet," Diana replies, then notices that I'm holding a card in my hand. "What about you? Find whatever you were looking for?"

I chuckle and nod I hold the card in my hand out to her. "Yep," I reply. "Got a Field Spell for myself, and a gift for you. Since you're likely to try rebuilding your Ice Barrier deck, I figured having this will help you out."

-Diana's P.o.V.-

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow in confusion at what Cloud had said. Something to help me with rebuilding my Ice Barrier deck? Curious, I took the card and turned it around to see what it was while bringing it to my face, and I nearly dropped the card in shock.

He'd given me an Eria the Water Charmer card.

Ice Barrier Monsters are all Water Attribute.

I wasn't entirely sure what came over me in that instant, but I ended up glomping Cloud with a cry of joy, sending us both to the ground. I think Cloud was able to cast a quick Gust at the last moment so we didn't hit the ground hard enough to potentially cause damage, but I wasn't really paying attention since I was kinda busy thanking him profusely.

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

I let out a cry of surprise as Diana tackled me to the ground in a hug. I'm just thankful for being a Wind/Spellcaster, as a quick burst of wind via Gust kept us from hitting the ground hard when she did that. Unfortunately for me, however, Diana's bust was pressing against my chest, her crotch was rubbing against my thigh with her thigh getting _dangerously_ close to rubbing up against somewhere embarrassing, her cheek was rubbing against mine, and people were starting to stare, so, yeah, getting kind of very awkward here.

"D-Diana…" I urge, putting my hands on her shoulders and start trying to gently pry myself away from the suddenly affectionate Vampiress to no avail. "You're very welcome, Diana, but could you please tone it down a little…? Diana, please, people are starting to stare... Diana? Diana!"

My shouting her name seemed to finally snap my travelling companion out of whatever was going on in her head as she released me from the hug… and lifted herself onto her hands and knees in such a way that our positioning looked even more suggestive to the crowd that was forming around us, the Vampiress' hands to either side of my head and she was straddling my hips, lips parted slightly, giving me a full view of her vampire fangs, and staring into my green eyes with her own hypnotic blue, which accented by the way her hair fell, framing her face just right for her eyes to emit a near ethereal glow in the shadows she cast. 'Thank God I'm already on my back, 'cause I think I might just pass out at this point,' I mentally groan as my blush threatened to completely overtake my face.

-Diana's P.o.V.-

I just stared at Cloud from on top of him as my mind rebooted, albeit a bit slowly from how adorable and strangely… alluring… he looked underneath me, transfixed in place and face flushed as he was. Despite every instinct screaming at me not to, I do eventually bring myself to break eye contact with him and look around at the people staring at us, which was, quite understandably, followed by my _own_ face flushing and me getting off of Cloud as fast as humanly possible while muttering a quick, almost imperceptible "Sorry" to him.

"I-I forgive you," he stutters, shaking his head to clear it as best he can before taking the hand I offered to get him back on his feet. "J-just please be a bit more conscious about where we are when you do that?"

I nodded my acceptance of that, it was a pretty reasonable request, after all. "So, what now?"

" _I still want us to find someone selling Ice Barrier Monsters,"_ Dance Princess says as the crowd starts dispersing, to both mine and Cloud's relief. _"Eria might be good company, but I miss having my kin nearby."_

Cloud nod and closes his eyes. I blink and look to Dance Princess, who looked just as confused as I was. Wynn had a knowing smile on her face, though. "Could this be related to that sixth sense thing his Harpie's Brother mentioned last night?" I whisper to Dance Princess, who shrugs with a whispered _"Maybe…?"_ in response.

I soon saw Cloud smile, which made my blush return a little as he opens his eyes and looks to Dance Princess and I. "There is someone here selling Ice Barrier Monsters," he says.

"Really?!" Dance Princess and I ask hopefully, inadvertently breaking out the puppy-dog eyes as we did so.

Cloud chuckles and nods. "There is, I can feel it on the winds."

I swear, my grin nearly split my face, as I grabbed his hand and started dragging him back among the various stalls. "Let's go, then! I need to know where the guy selling cards from Dance Princess's family is!"

"W-woah!" Cloud cries out in shock. "I can walk just fine on my own, Diana!" I'm amazed he hasn't gotten used to this yet. This is, what, the third time it's happened so far? You'd think he'd have come to expect it by now.

-one shopping trip trip later, Cloud's P.o.V.-

As it turned out, Diana's quest for more Ice Barrier Monsters had led us back to Mr. Spellman's stall. Ice Barrier cards were, evidently, rare enough on this side of the Virtual World for him to be offering them to new players. "It took you three minutes to decide on Secret Guards and Spellbreaker of the Ice Barrier?" I ask as Diana and I sat down to eat some cheese pizza. I'd summoned Harpie's Brother and Diana, after spending a little time getting to know Eria, had returned her so that Dance Princess could be with her kin, who had run Diana a total of 19 coins.

"Actually, Data Life is using the direct translation of the original Japanese name, so he's Inner Guard of the Ice Barrier," Diana replied as the ice-themed, Shinobi-esque swordsman in question nodded as confirmation. "When I looked up his card info, there was a notification from an Admin that this was implemented early on due to confusion on the side of players, as the English name implies a squad, similar to Goblin Attack Force, but only one appears when summoned."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense," I admit while watching Dance Princess chat up Spellbreaker. If I had to describe them, it almost felt like watching a student meeting with their teacher outside of a classroom from the way they were conversing.

"So, that Spellman guy was pretty nice," Diana says as she grabs a slice of pizza. "Even told me you bought Eria and a Field Spell off of him. What was the Field you got?"

"Harpies' Hunting Ground," I reply, deciding to use it now to see what happened since Diana brought it up. I was treated to the sight of my map popping open and a portion of it filling out to indicate where the Hunting Grounds were located, complete with the name of the Field Spell to indicate the area in question. "And based off what just happened when I played it, it would appear that Field Spells fill out the map, unlocking new areas to explore."

"Neat," Diana replies. "Kinda makes me wish there was a Field Spell for Ice Barrier Monsters, then I'd be able to do some recruitment work of my own ASAP."

" _Assuming you did not run into conflict with the Great Dragons in doing so,"_ Inner Guard replied, his voice soft, but firm.

"Let's worry about that if/when we happen across an area where Ice Barrier spawns are commonplace," I suggest, Wynn nodding her agreement.

" _He's got a point,"_ Harpie's Brother replies. _"Without a Field Spell specific to the Ice Barrier, your best hope would be to find an Ice themed Dungeon."_

"If such a Dungeon exists, I pray that there are no ice physics," I groan a little as I take a bite of my pizza slice, "or at least something handed out to first timers to counteract it. Don't get me wrong, I love the aesthetic possibilities of ice levels, but outside of Xenoblade Chronicles, Ice Physics can go die in a fire."

Diana and her present Monsters all looked at each other, then at me, then back to each other and collectively rolled their eyes, for they did not understand the average gamer's vendetta against slippery surfaces. "Anyway, did you see that thing in the paper this morning about the tournament?"

"I did," I reply.

"So, what do you think?" my companion asks. "Interested in participating?"

"I'm thinking I will," I admit. "I'm considering the possibility of forming a Guild, and the Beginners' Tournament would be a good way to scout out people interested in helping to form the initial members."

Diana nods thoughtfully as she eats some more of her pizza. "So… what do we do now?"

"Well, I hate to be that guy, but I'm thinking we should split up for a bit," I admit.

"Why?" Diana asks.

"I want to do a bit of Harpie recruiting, and the Harpies' Hunting Grounds are the best place to do that," I explain. "Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that it's going to be pretty much _all_ Harpies and related Monsters with the odd Ojama trying to not get killed there, so there won't really be anything there for you."

" _... He's got a point,"_ Dance Princess acquiesces.

" _Indeed,"_ Spellbreaker nods in agreement as she looks to Diana. _"I propose that we, instead, look for Eria's Familiar Spirit, ma'am. Each Charmer will have an easier time Merging into their Familiar Possessed form if the Monster they Merge with is their Familiar Spirit."_

" _Eria-nee's Familiar is Gigobyte,"_ Wynn speaks up, surprising me a little that she used a Japanese honorific with Eria's name.

"Gigobyte's a lvl 1 Monster, so there's a chance he can be found in the Forest of Beginnings, but just in case, it might be a good idea to ask around for where the best place to find one would be," I suggest, getting nods from Diana, Dance Princess, Inner Guard, and Spellbreaker. With our immediate plans established, we went back to our pizza so that we'd have the energy for our first solo runs.

-One hour later, Village of Beginnings Main Road gate-

"Alright, here's the main gate," I muse as Diana and I look out at the road leading away of the Village of Beginnings, our Monsters at our side. I then turn to face Diana. "Harpie's Brother, Wynn, and I will fly to the Harpies' Hunting Ground from here, so I guess this is where we part ways for a time."

Diana and Dance Princess nod as Diana holds out her hand, which I accept for a handshake. "Right, I'm gonna be doing some training in the areas around the Village and hunt for a Gigobyte for Eria," Diana replies, "so I guess I'll be seeing you when you return from the Hunting Grounds."

-Serina's P.o.V.-

"Right, see you then," Cloud says as I watch him and Diana part ways, the Vampiress heading back into the village while Cloud leaves and soon takes off in a swirl of wind, Wynn the Wind Charmer at his side and Harpie's Brother flying ahead of them. I'd watched the entire exchange from the shadows nearby and narrow my eyes as Cloud and his Monsters leave for wherever they were heading.

"So, my prey is taking flight to toughen himself up, it seems," I muse to Command Knight, who was leaning against the wall beside me with her arms crossed.

" _Such would indeed be the case, milady,"_ my faithful knight replies. _"Shall we pursue, or bide our time and strengthen ourselves in preparation for his return?"_

"We won't be able to catch up to them when they're traveling by air," I admit as I turn and start walking further into the alley, Command Knight kicking off from the wall to follow me. "We will train for now; when he returns, we shall ambush him before he enters the Village." I then turn to Command Knight and smirk at her. "Before we do so, however, I am in the mood for some… _entertainment_."

To her credit and my amusement, Command Knight immediately caught my meaning and blushed, but didn't allow her embarrassment to show beyond that and nods as we walk. _"If that is your wish, milady,"_ my darling knight replies, even as she closes her eyes to try and fight the heat rushing to her face, _"then I shall do my best to… satisfy your desires."_

"I know you will, my darling knight," I purr as my smirk grows into a seductive grin, "just as you know that I shall reward your loyalty and patience with my less than honorable methods for as long as you are my humble retainer."

* * *

 **Spice: Alright that's Chapter. So yeah, Cloud and Diana will be splitting up for a bit of solo training in preparation for the coming Beginners' Tournament, and Serina will be doing the same herself after having a little fun in bed with her Command Knight. Speaking of the tournament- ELFI?**

 **ELFI: The Captain is now accepting OC submissions for participants in the Beginners' Tournament. 5 of the planned 32 participants will be OCs created by the Captain, and two people have already submitted participants for the tournament.**

 **Spice: Honorable mentions to both 13RoniN13 and yukicrewger2 for submitting the first two of 27 OC submissions for the tournament. For anyone else interested, I am using the character creator put together by Phoenix Champion, originally for Alpha Gear Chronicles, so hop on over to his profile to pull up the relevant info, which is has recently been updated a bit so that things are a bit more balanced in terms of overall power climb due to Upgrades and Transformations. As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated, while Flames get the courtesy to helping me test out the Hephaestus' Electronic Warfare Suite. Until next time, this is Spiceracksargent001, signing off.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Alexandra and Relena

**Spice: Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here, bringing you a brand new chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers! Been on a bit of a creative streak for this story lately, so I'm gonna ride this out and see how far I can get.**

 **ELFI: The Captain owns neither Yu-Gi-Oh, nor the Storyworld this work takes place in.**

 **Spice: That second part is subject to possible change, however, as the Element Reavers and Alpha Gear will be doing largely different things and going different places. Hell, Phoenix is even letting me create an area where Players can find weaponry from Feudal Japan. Still brainstorming on that front by the way, folks, so don't expect anything to come of that just yet. Without further ado, on with the story!**

* * *

-Starter Forest, Diana's P.o.V.-

I stretched as I stood just outside the gate linking the Village of Beginnings to the Starter Forest. Beside me, Dance Princess was twirling one of her shields around her index finger, and Spellbreaker was checking up on little Eria. I'd called back Inner Guard so that Eria could get her Familiar Spirit, and he understood why perfectly. As I stretched, I thought back to the info Cloud and I had gathered for finding Eria's Familiar.

"Alright, everyone," I call out to my Monsters, getting everyone's attention. "We're heading into the Starter Forest to look for a Gigobyte. According to the info we gathered, there are a few ponds scattered around the forest where Gigobyte spawns are common. We're gonna find one, and then wait while Eria does her thing."

Dance Princess and Spellbreaker nod before smiling at Eria, who was positively beaming at the prospect of connecting with her Familiar Spirit. I'm honestly starting to understand how Cloud is the way he is with Wynn; little Eria's just so precious that I can't help but feel like an older sibling with her around. I smile and offer Eria my hand, which she eagerly accepts, as we start making our way into the Starter Forest to find Eria's Familiar and maybe even get some training in.

"Wonder how Cloud and Wynn are doing?" I muse aloud as we walk. "Any bets they're at those Harpie Hunting Grounds yet?"

" _Were it just Harpie's Brother, I've no doubt he's already be there, since he's capable of reaching Mach 5 at his fastest,"_ Dance Princess replies thoughtfully. _"Even going at slower pace so Cloud and Wynn can keep up with him, I imagine they're about a third of the way there already."_

-Cloud's P.o.V., en route to the Harpie's Hunting Grounds-

"How much farther?" I inquire as Wynn and I catch up to Harpie's Brother, who'd gone ahead to scout the air and make sure our path was secure.

" _I'd say we're just shy of a third of the way there, now,"_ Harpie's Brother replies as he looks to me. _"Feeling anything on the winds?"_

I nod. "A storm brews to the Southwest. It will be upon us in about ten minutes at our current pace."

Harpie's Brother mills over this info before nodding to me. _"Let's keep flying for another five minutes or so and see if we can't find a good forest to rest in while we wait out the storm."_

"Sounds like a plan," I reply, Wynn nodding beside me as we continue heading towards the Hunting Grounds. I have to admit, despite not having put points into levitate, I'm glad to be able to fly in this world using my wind magic; the view of the world from where Gods dwell truly is a sight to behold. There's a certain beauty to it that only someone whose heart belongs to the winds can truly appreciate, to be able to see the rivers and isles of color denoting roads and settlements scattered amongst the rolling seas of earthen and oceanic splendor with a view as flawless as one from the air.

Those five minutes passed faster than I'd have liked, and I saw Harpie's Brother signaling down in front of us as he began to descend to a forest. Nodding to Wynn, we began to descend as well, following our resident master of the air. I could still feel the storm on the winds. We would be in the outskirts of it in about four minutes, and then the storm would truly be upon us.

When we landed, it seemed the stirring winds from my magic and the beating of Harpie's Brother's wings woke someone nearby, as we heard a dainty yawn, making us turn to see… the top half of a very well-tanned woman beginning to sit up from inside a large, midnight blue rose head. Said woman was wearing a brown-tinged Leather Bodysuit, that did absolutely _nothing_ to hide her large bust so much as emphasize it, which combined with the flower base to denote that she was Earth/Plant. Her hair was unkempt, midnight blue, and seemed to reach pretty far down, complete with bangs that largely obscured her eyes. I did note, however, that her hair had red highlights in it, as there were long streaks of a deep, glistening Crimson in her hair that seemed to move and shift with her hair's every movement, and a closer inspection revealed a similar tinge to the petals of her flower base. I then directed my gaze to her right arm and saw the flower-themed Bracer, confirming what I thought in that she was a Player.

"Mmm… Who's'ere?" The woman asked in a drowsy slur, rubbing her eyes with her left arm before looking at us. Even blurred from sleepiness and with her bangs obscuring much of them, I could see that she had Heterochromia eyes, her right eye being a ruby red, matched by the sapphire blue of her left.

"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you," I apologize sheepishly, even as I tried to keep my focus on her eyes and _not_ on how that bodysuit hugged the busty blunette in _all_ the right places. "We were just passing through, and were hoping to find a bit of shelter from the storm that'll be passing through here in a few minutes."

The woman nodded in understanding as she retracted her flower base and pulled up her roots, revealing that she was completely barefoot, didn't even wear footwrap, and that her hair went down to her knees. "Makes sense," she says even as she leans back a bit and lets out another big yawn, making it _very_ hard to keep my gaze from going any lower than her shoulders. She spared me, somewhat, by turning around so I didn't have to bear witness to more of Data Life's jiggle physics, and started walking deeper into the forest while motioning with her hand for us to follow. "Come on, I know a good spot with lots'a top cover."

I shake my head as I try to banish my blush and follow after the woman, who idly put two cards on her Bracer and summoned a Beautiful Headhuntress and Prevent Rat. Harpie's Brother looked to be holding back his laughter, which made me deflate a bit, no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't hesitate to tease me about my weakness to beautiful women if not for Wynn. "So," the woman starts, drawing my attention as we keep walking, "the name's Alexandra Rose. You got a name, cutie?"

 _That_ brought my blush back as I look away bashfully for fear of my eyes wandering again. "C-Cloud Skywind."

"Cloud Skywind, huh...?" Alexandra asks to herself, seemingly bouncing my name around in her head. "You don't mind if I call ya Feather, do ya? Yer footsteps across the ground feel very light, like a feather."

"Uhh…" I trail off, not sure _how_ to respond to that. Even Wynn and Harpie's Brother seemed a bit confused when I looked to them for advice.

"Silence is acceptance, Feather," Alexandra says as we keep walking. "So, where ya heading? Newbies like us? We've always someplace we're lookin' for once we step out of the opening zones' cradle."

"T-the Harpies' Hunting Grounds," I reply, a bit uncertainly.

"Th' Huntin' Grounds, eh? Lots'a Harpies there, Feather. Vicious bird ladies that wouldn't hesitate to take 'vantage of a fresh, vulnerable man like yourself," Alexandra warns. "'Course, the Harpies be only one of th' things wanderin' there. Birdfaces patrol the borders of Harpie nests, and Harpie huntin' parties're always competin' with Phantom Griffon packs for turf an' prey."

"Noted," I reply, shrugging to Harpie's Brother before returning my attention to Alexandra. "Why're you telling me this, though?"

"Y'seem like a nice kid, Feather. Be a right shame for you t'spend the rest'a your days here as the fuck toy of a bunch'a Harpies," Alexandra teases. "'Sides, us Rooks gotta stick together. Strength in numbers an' all."

"I suppose I can't argue with the logic on that last point," I reply, trying, and failing, to suppress a shiver at the thought of being held captive as a breeder to a nest of Harpies. Whether that shiver was one of arousal or terror, though, I couldn't tell. 'Wonder how Diana's doing right now…?' I think to myself, trying to distract myself from the busty bluenette before me and what I could potentially be heading towards.

-Starter Forest, Diana's P.o.V.-

I smile as I look to the woman sitting beside me. I'd run into her while she was sparing with her Monster. She had yellow hair that was done up like Akiza's whenever the psychic duelist's limiter came off with streaks of blue in it, electric blue eyes, lightly tanned skin, and breasts that, from what I could guess (I could just barely see the chest wrap she wore to keep them out of the way), were maybe only a little bigger than mine. She was wearing a green-tinted Leather Bodysuit of the same style as mine, and resting beside her at the moment was the Iron Spear that served as her weapon of choice.

This was Relena Neaclon, a Wind/Thunder Player whom I can proudly say I've really hit it off with so far. She also apparently had an older brother around somewhere, but she apparently lost sight of him after they'd entered the Virtual World together, and after looking for him for a few days, is convinced that he's found a group to travel with and that they'll run into each other eventually.

Right now we were watching from a rock nearby a decently sized pond as Eria was chatting up a Gigobyte and doing… whatever it is Charmer's do to contract with their Familiar. Cloud's a Spellcaster; he probably understands the magic mumbo-jumbo a hell of a lot better than I ever could.

"So, where'd you get Eria?" Relena asks as she looks to me.

"She's a gift from a friend I made recently," I reply with a smile as I look at Eria. "I actually first bumped into him, literally, when I was about to register for the new VR world."

Relena snickered a bit at how I described mine and Cloud's first meeting. "So, this friend of yours, what's he like?" She asks, a teasing smile on her face, even as I saw her Monster, an Elemental HERO Sparkman, shake his head, seemingly in exasperation at what was on her mind.

"Cloud? He's pretty cool," I reply thoughtfully as I look up at the sky and kick my feet into the open air idly. "He's a Wind/Spellcaster. He picked up a Longbow and Chainmail when we first got to the Village, so I guess he must've had some Archery experience back home. He's pretty easy to tease, too. He's also apparently got this really weird ability where he can read the wind and predict the future. If his Monsters are to be believed, this is something he's got even in the real world."

"Interesting, So who'd he pick for his Starter?" Relena asks, even as Eria walks over with a beaming smile on her face and a Gigobyte card in hand that she gave to me. I also just got a notification that I'd gotten an Upgrade point for my first diplomatic recruit.

"Oh, thanks, Eria," I say with a smile, ruffling Eria's hair a bit, to the little Charmer's delight, before returning my attention to my new companion. "Anyway, Cloud's Starter is a Sky Scout, but he's got one of the original English cards, so the Monster's name registers as Harpie's Brother. He's also got a Wynn the Wind Charmer and Petit Dragon."

"Why the Petit Dragon?" Relena asks with a confused expression. "Seems like a poor add-on for such a strong initial line-up."

" _Petit Dragon is Wynn-nee-chan's Familiar,"_ Eria replies. Relena blinked at Eria's reply (we'd already registered each other as friends), but nodded.

"So, where is this Cloud Guy now?" Relena asks. "I'm interested in meeting him."

"We've split up for a bit," I reply while waving my hand back in the direction of the Village of Beginnings. "He bought a Field Spell back in the Open Market, so he's heading to the Field's location now to go recruiting."

"What Field is he going to?" Relena asks, curious.

"Someplace called the Harpies' Hunting Grounds," I reply. "He wanted to go recruit some Harpies for his lineup, and that's apparently one of the best places to find them."

"Hm. Well, we've got a few days to kill while we wait then, so… what do you wanna do now?" Relena asks.

"I don't know," I admit with a shrug. "Wanna head back to the Village, get something to eat?"

"Sure, I could use a bite to eat," my new companion says with a smile as we get off of the rock we were sitting on, grab our weapons, and start making our way back to the Village with our Monsters in tow.

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

I let out a sigh of relief as I finish the apple I was eating. Turns out Plant and Insect-types can talk to each other, and after arriving at the spot Alexandra was leading me to, she'd asked a couple of Bladeflies that were passing through the area at the time to forage some food for us to eat while we wait out the storm, which had just gotten directly overhead us, the dense top-cover of the trees keeping us pretty dry overall.

"Well, no way we'll be flying again until the storm passes," I muse aloud, looking up as I read the winds to try gauging how long the storm'll last.

" _Any idea when we'll be able to take off again?"_ Harpie's Brother asks as he finishes the mouse he'd been eating.

"I'd say no sooner than an hour from now," I reply, still trying to gauge exactly how long we had before sighing. The winds weren't giving me much to work with at the moment; the section of forest we were in was too dense for them to give me much beyond what I said. "We might as well take the time to rest up a bit before continuing on."

Harpie's Brother nods and helps Wynn to her feet as the Charmer finishes an apple of her own and they start looking for a relatively cozy spot to rest.

"Ye're welcome to nap with me, Feather," Alexandra offers as I get up to follow my Monsters' example, making me wheel around, looking at the twin-colored woman in surprise and embarrassment. Either she didn't register the blush on my face, or she just didn't care as she continued talking. "My Flower Base is big 'nough for me an' one other person, and it'd be a lot comfier than the dirt an' grass or tree bark."

"A-are you sure?" I stutter nervously. "I-I-I w-wouldn't want t-to impose…"

"I don' mind if ya want to, Feather," Alexandra shrugs indifferently. "This part a th' forest is pretty remote. Only ones 'ere 're us an' our Monsters. 'Sides, what's th' worst that happens?"

I was silent for a good while, trying to come up with a counter argument, but none came up. 'I hope Diana never figures out about this, I don't think she'll ever let me live this down,' I think to myself before sighing in defeat. "Fine, you win," I acquiesce, walking over to Alexandra and climbing into the large, midnight blue rose head that sprung up from the ground as she puts down roots again.

"There, now was that so hard, Feather?" Alexandra asks with an amused smile as she helps me settle into the flower.

"Sh-shut up…" I mumble with an embarrassed blush on my cheeks, made only worse by the way she started stroking my hair in a way that calmed my nerves and started to make me drowsy.

"Rest well, Feather," Alexandra coos softly in a tone my rapidly hazing mind could only describe as motherly. "Ye'll need all th' rest ya can get for yer trip to the Huntin' Grounds."

With that, the desire to sleep rather handily won out over trying to protest the way she was treating me and I allowed myself to slip unconscious in her embrace.

-Alexandra's P.o.V.-

I allowed a smile to grace my lips as Feather fell asleep in my arms. He looked so cute like this, like a kid napping in his momma's embrace. I allowed a small chuckle to slip out of me as I kissed his head gently before nuzzling up as I fell asleep as well.

'Cloud Skywind… somethin' tells me I'll be seein' a lot more of ya in the coming days, Feather,' I think to myself as I nuzzle up to my fellow archer. 'I think I'll keep an eye on ya from now on, see where this world takes ya…'

* * *

 **Spice: And that's Chapter. Cloud and Diana meet new people, a sort of limitation is revealed for Cloud's little "wind reading" trick, and Eria obtains her Familiar Spirit. Next chapter, Cloud and his Monsters make it to the Hunting Grounds, and Cloud and Diana begin their training proper.**

 **ELFI: As is the Captain's policy, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated. Flames will be used as practice for the Hephaestus' Electronic Warfare suite.**

 **Spice: Until next time folks, this is Spiceracksargent001: signing off.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Harpies' Hunting Grounds

**Spice: Hello once again, folks, Spiceracksargent001 here, with the next chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers. Sorry it took so long, summer between my last posting and now has been pretty hectic for me, so getting the chapter finished up and posted here took longer than I'd hoped it would. Anyway! In this chapter, Cloud makes it to the Harpies' Hunting Grounds and begins his training, but his arrival there doesn't go unnoticed by the local Monsters.**

 **ELFI: As always, the captain would like to give mention to Phoenix Champion's story: Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Alpha Gear Chronicles, which runs parallel to, and inspired, this story.**

 **Spice: Seriously, if you've read my story but haven't seen Phoenix's yet, go read it. David Drakon of Alpha Gear Chronicles has made cameo appearances a couple times here already, so you really ought to go see his story so you know what's happening in Alpha Gear while my story unfolds. Anyway, enough chatter: onto the story!**

* * *

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

I'll admit, it was a bit hard at first to actually fall asleep once I was properly settled into the giant rosebud that is Alexandra's flower base, but once I _was_ , I was pretty much out like a light. It was certainly a lot softer than the bed in my player's room… or maybe that was just Alexandra's breasts pressing against my back as she snuggled into me while I slept, I'm not quite sure which is the case. Either way, I was actually quite comfortable.

About an hour and a half of restful napping later, two things woke me up. One, the winds, with some difficulty because of the giant rose bud that is Alexandra's flower base, told me that the storm had finally passed. Two, well… it got kind of hard to breathe all of a sudden… in a "smothered by a soft pillow" kind of way, which made me open my eyes to find that my head was currently lodged between a pair of "pillows"- otherwise known as the bust of one Alexandra Rose, who was asleep and now using me as a human body pillow.

Embarrassment and the need to breathe warred for dominance in my head while my face, while initially a bright red, began growing purple from my embarrassment and present lack of oxygen. Any sane human male would probably _love_ to be in my position right now, but I had somewhere to be right now, so I quickly managed to get my arms working again and started trying to pry myself from my slumbering captor. Gonna have to give this to her, Alexandra's got some pretty impressive arm stren-did she just grope my butt!?

My captor was soon roused from her slumber, both by my struggle to get free, and my involuntary, wordless shout of surprise (for that is what it was; definitely _not_ an embarrassed squeak at having an attractive woman grope me in her sleep), and, thankfully, released me from her grip, allowing me to free my head from its soft prison and take a much needed breath of air.

"Mmm… sleep well, Feather?" Alexandra asks sleepily as she rubs her eyes with her right hand, propping herself up with her left arm in a way that both kept me pinned beneath her and still allowed her breasts to be in my face.

"I-I-I u-uh…" I stammer incoherently in embarrassment at our current positioning, face still red as a tomato from being groped and used as a body pillow.

Alexandra chuckles as she gets off of me, allowing me to sit up and face away from her, trying to get my blush under control. "Y'know, Feather, most ladies prefer either a man who plays hard to get, or a man that chases after them," she quips while pressing her breasts onto my back again, which does not help me _at all_ with my embarrassment, "though I suppose that cute, easily embarrassed types like yourself _do_ have a charm of their own."

As if to emphasize what she said, Alexandra blew onto my ear without warning, making my blush intensify and for me to jump away as best I could inside this giant rose bud with a surprised yelp. On the one hand, I was now out of Alexandra's reach until she pulled up her roots. On the other hand, doing so made me tumble out of the giant rose bud and nearly land on my face. It was only a quick casting of Gust on pure instinct that allowed me to slow my fall enough to catch myself and get back on my feet. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to calm my frayed nerves, I opened myself up to the winds and let the forest breeze soothe me further. Despite the comfort, it was rather claustrophobic inside of Alexandra's flower base, especially for someone like me, who shares a close bond with the wind.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that Harpies' Brother and Wynn were, thankfully, still napping up in a nearby tree, Wynn snuggled in Harpies' Brother's wings. The sound of flower petals being rustled alerted me to Alexandra retracting her flower base, and when I looked, she was looking at me with an amused smirk on her face. "Well, that was my good deed for the day. Places to go, Monsters to recruit, an' all that jazz, so I'll be seein' ya, Feather," Alexandra says and throws me a lazy wave from over her shoulder as she goes to leave, heading deeper into the forest with an obvious sway to her step. "Don' be a stranger if we ever run into each other again, Feather! You're rather pleasant company."

I blink, but nod, eyes glued to her a bit due to the way she was walking away before blushing again and shaking my head to clear away those thoughts. Looking to Wynn and Harpie's Brother, I note Wynn stir as she wakes up. Waving to her, I grin as Wynn smiles and waves back before nudging Harpie's Brother to wake him up. Once we'd all gathered, Wynn and I called upon the winds again as Harpie's Brother began flapping his wings, the three of us taking to the sky as we make our way back above the forest and continue on our way to our destination.

-Hours later, no P.o.V., Harpies' Hunting Grounds-

A lone Harpie Girl was flitting about the Hunting Grounds without a care in the world as she stretched her wings. Her Queen had warned her not to venture too far from the nest without an escort, which she had, her caretaker hovering overhead.

Movement out of the corner of her vision drew the Harpie Girl's curiosity. Focusing in on it, she could make out three figures approaching in the distance. One was distinctly a Sky Scout, and one looked like a young Spellcaster of some kind, but the third one was who drew her attention.

He looked to be in his late teens and was carrying a longbow in hand. She might've thought he was a Warrior, were it not for the fact he was flying on his own without wings, which indicated that he was a Spellcaster… and had a Bracer, which got the Harpie Girl's eyes to widen, realizing she's just found a Player and his Monsters. Flitting up to her babysitter, a Cyber Harpie Ladie, she gets her attention and points out the Player and his Monsters. The two look to the trio as they land, then to each other, nod, and the Cyber orders the Girl to follow the Player from a safe distance before flying off to inform their Queen.

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

I smile and nod to Wynn and Harpie's Brother as we touch down in the Hunting Grounds. "Well, we made it, finally," I say as we start looking around.

" _Right, we'd best be a bit cautious, groups of Harpie Ladies and Sky Scouts often patrol around here, both for prey and to ward off Phantom Gryphon packs, and who knows how hostile they'll be to our presence,"_ Harpie's Brother warns. _"We'd also best turn back if we happen upon any Birdfaces. Running into those means we're encroaching upon a Harpie nest, and they tend to be protective of their nesting sites."_

"Right, keep our eyes peeled; avoid large groups, fights, or Birdfaces," I summarize. "We'd best get moving then. Let's see if there are any lone Harpies without a nest that we can recruit. Maybe also beat up some Ojamas and/or Gryphons to train up for that Beginner's Tournament."

Wynn and Harpie's Brother nod to me as I summon Petit Dragon so that Wynn can use Possession if need be. Once our small party was fully assembled, Petit Dragon perching itself on Wynn's staff, we started making our way deeper into the Hunting Grounds, Wynn and myself tuning our senses to the winds for advance warning and relying on Harpie's Brother's sharp eyes for specifics at a greater distance than Wynn or I could see. As we walked, despite how exposed to attack we were out here, I couldn't stop a content smile from making its way onto my face, feeling more opened to the winds than I'd felt in my entire life. It almost made me not notice the Harpie Girl following us a fair distance.

 _...Almost._ I'd been aware of her following us since I first felt her presence on the winds. I simply haven't reacted to her because A: Harpie Girls are pretty harmless with only 50 ATK and DEF; what harm could she possibly do if she decided to attack?, and B: Harpie Girls are basically children; chances are high that she's following us from a perceivably safe distance because of simple curiosity.

After a few minutes of occasionally running into an Ojama and wailing on it for experience and money (as well as getting a couple of Ojama cards to sell for some extra funds), I'd begun to feel a tension on the winds.

" _You guys feel it too, right?"_ Harpie's Brother asks as his eyes shift back and forth, eyeing the horizon. _"This tension in the air."_

"Yeah, we feel it," I reply as Wynn nods warily, clutching her staff while I draw an arrow, already infusing my magic into the projectile without knocking it. "The winds are growing uneasy. Something's coming, and it isn't friendly. Better get ready, you guys. I get the feeling we're about to be attacked by Phantom Gryphons."

At the mere mention of the Monster that is essentially the Harpie's natural enemy, it was like a switch was flipped in Harpie's Brother's mind. His shoulders became squared, wings outstretched, clawed bracer seeming to hiss in the air as he brings it to a ready position, and eyes darting back and forth with purpose now. Wynn' grip on her staff tightened as she began looking around as well, more for a safe place for her and Petit Dragon to merge should the situation call for it, the small, serpentine dragon helping its Master in her search.

I knocked the arrow as I continued to infuse wind magic into it for what I've come to term my Power Shot, eyes scanning the horizon as I fully opened myself to the winds, ready to let fly at the first sign of hostilities, all the while keeping aware of the Harpie Girl; she'll get two-shot by a Gryphon, and if she's from a Harpie nest, it may buy me some brownie points with her resident Harpie Queen if I help her get home safe.

-No P.o.V.-

The Harpie Girl continued trailing the Player and his Monsters faithfully, as per the Cyber's order, and taking note of how he and his Monsters simply wailed on any Ojama dumb enough to cross their path. It was as if the Player was reading when an Ojama would be in sight before they even appeared, almost like he had some sort of future sight.

If that was the case, then maybe he could help the Queen with their Griffon problem… if he can figure out their locations and formations before they're even in sight, then…!

She was drawn from her thoughts when she heard the Player issuing orders to his Monsters, but from the distance, she couldn't tell what he was saying he'd sensed with his special foresight, but she could tell the effect as they got ready for a serious fight.

Before she could contemplate what he was sensing, a sound she'd been raised to both fear and hate reached the Harpie Girl's ears from directly above her, and she knew instantly what he's sensed.

Fear shot through the Harpie Girl as she looked up to see a Phantom Gryphon diving right at her, with more of a small pack getting ready to dive as well! She barely managed to evade the beast's outstretched talons, but that left her wide open to a smack from the griffon's Wing that sent her flying uncontrollably. The feeling of the air slowing her down made the Harpie Girl dare to crack open her eyes to see a swirl of air as a wind bubble slowed her down and brought her to the ground. Looking in the direction she was going, she saw the small Spellcaster Monster had her hand outstretched in her direction, eyes and outstretched hand glowing with magical power as the Player let his knocked arrow fly, the projectile traveling at insane speeds and striking the Griffon right in the flank, stunning it as the Sky Scout came at it from below, catching the beast with a rising slash from his clawed bracer, felling the creature and making it explode like glass. She saw the Sky Scout grab a quartet of gold coins that spawned with the Griffon's demise and toss them to his player, who retrieved and pocketed the coins with a rather skillful use of magic even as he grabbed another arrow from his quiver and began infusing magic into it…

-A short distance away-

The Cyber Harpie Lady that had been watching the Harpie Girl was now making her way towards the battle getting underway with new, grim determination, the Harpie Lady Sisters at her side following with the same determination. They'd heard the Phantom Griffons' war cry, and knew that the Harpie Girl was likely in the middle of their pack, trying desperately to stay alive.

The Cyber wasn't too terribly worried for the chick's safety, she had told her to trail the Player at a distance where he would be able to help her if the Griffons did attack, but it was still better to ere on the side of caution since Players are unknowns.

Upon arrival at the battle, the Harpies took a moment to assess the situation. The Player and his Sky Scout were fighting against the Phantom Griffons with claw, arrow, wind blade, and air blasts, but they didn't see the Harpie Girl in the fur ball. Had the Griffons gotten her…?

The Cyber looked groundward towards the Archer and let out a relieved sigh. The young Spellcaster Monster had the chick with her, shielding the young Harpie from stray fighting with a large dome of raging winds. Motioning to the Sisters, the four had a quick discussion before nodding and diving into the fray. Their Queen wants to meet this Player, and if he was keeping their chick safe, then he may just be the one they'd been waiting for.

-Cloud's P.o.V.-

So far so good.

With Wynn keeping the Harpie Girl safe, Harpie's Brother and I were free to let loose on the Griffons. I'd quickly foregone infusing magic into my arrows, trading out the power per shot for damage per second as, without having to worry about the enchantments and instead focus on archery and magic I was able to put out a lot more arrows and magic bursts, using wind blades on single targets and explosive air blasts to damage and stun groups. Since a Phantom Griffon only has its 400 LP and mid-air maneuverability to rely on for defense, my volume and precision of fire combined with Harpie's Brother's mastery of the skies allowed us to effectively stalemate the Gryphons, and we'd already managed to kill another 4 after the first one we combo'd. Problem was, with Wynn and Petit Dragon playing bodyguard and out of the fight, the Griffons had us outnumbered nearly 6 to 1. Not good odds for us, and the Gryphons had already made a few passes to try and get at the Harpie Girl, but Wynn and Petit Dragon combined were effectively able to play goalie until Harpie's Brother or I could spare the time to take the heat off of them, but I could tell it wouldn't work if the Griffons went at them more than one or two at a time, and I saw a group of four getting ready to dive them. Wynn and Petit Drag were gonna get overwhelmed by that before Harpie's Brother or I could get to them…

A shifting of the winds, however, turned my stressed scowl into a predatory grin, however, as a quartet of Harpie's dive-bombed the Griffons that'd split off to try and go after the Harpie Girl Wynn was defending, outmaneuvering the solitary Griffons and ending them in three blows each, and the numbers they were dealing confirmed who our reinforcements were: a Cyber Harpie Lady and Harpie Lady Sisters, all powerful fighters and nothing to sneeze at in a fight. With the odds now effectively 2 to 1, the Griffons were now hard-pressed to gain any ground, and were actually losing it as Harpie's Brother and I began coordinating our moves to the Harpies Ladies' timing. When the odds had went two to one in our favor, the surviving Griffons finally wised up and flew away, tails between their legs.

I let out a sigh of relief as the battle ended and exchanged a brofist with Harpie's Brother as he landed before giving Wynn a thumb's-up, the Charmer nodding and dropping the wind dome as she gently coaxed the Harpie Girl over to me to check her for any injuries. Fortunately, it seems Wynn's quick save spared the chick any damage, and I gave the frightened little Harpie a reassuring pat on the head before being roughly shoved out of the way by the Cyber Harpie Lady, who fussed over the Harpie Girl like a mother hen. The Harpie Lady Sisters were looking at Wynn, Harpie's Brother and I with predatory grins, however, and I felt another uneasy shifting in the winds, the feeling now coming from my one-shot allies.

Before I could ask Wynn to cast a translation spell to ask what they were planning, the Harpie Lady Sisters sprang into action. One grabbed me by the shoulders with her feet, another grabbed Wynn by the hem of her cloak, and the third grabbed Harpie's Brother by his wings, and all three soon began lifting us into the air despite our struggle. The Cyber and Harpie Girl looked at us gratefully before the Cyber nodded to the Sisters, who nodded back as all eight of our group (three of us unwilling passengers) started flying off somewhere. Based on how they were acting, I could only guess that our destination was a Harpie nest.

'I wonder if Diana is having better luck than I am right now,' I wonder idly as my captors fly my Monsters and I to our fate.

-Diana's P.o.V.-

I sneezed as Relena and I walked through the main square of the Village of Beginnings, perusing the Open Market so the spearwoman could try finding her brother one last time, drawing the attention of Relena, Sparkman, Dance Princess, and Inner Guard.

"You okay?" Relena asks.

"Yeah, I'm good," I reply, waving off the question. "Come on, let's keep going. You're still trying to find your brother before the day's up, right?"

"Fair point," Relena concedes after a second, "seeing if my knucklehead of a big bro is still around is a little more important than a little sneeze."

'Was someone thinking or talking about me?' I wonder as I nod and motion for Relena to take the lead again as our small group continues walking. 'Cloud, maybe, if he ran into anyone new to make friends with on his way to his destination.'

-Alexandra's P.o.V.-

I held back a sneeze as I finished talking to a nice Flying Kamakiri #1 and recruiting him to my Deck. After the Insect was in my deck, I looked over to my Beautiful Headhuntress. "I think someone's talkin' 'bout me."

" _Why do you say that, mistress?'_ Headhuntress asks.

"Dunno, had this sudden urge ta sneeze as I was wrappin' up my lil' chat wit' the Kamakiri," I reply with a shrug. "Prob'ly nothin'. Let's keep movin'."

" _Of course, Mistress."_

-A little while later, Cloud's P.o.V.-

I'd given up struggling against the Harpie's grip at this point and was busy consoling Wynn, who was practically a bawling wreck by this point. Harpie's Brother had, _somehow_ , talked his captor into letting him fly on his own, and was flying next to us with the Harpie Lady Sister that grabbed him flying above and behind him, an ideal spot to react if he tried anything, as he also tried to calm little Wynn down. I sent the Harpie manhandling Wynn a glare, and she, rightly, looked apologetic.

It did little to deter me from plotting a Power Shot or a wind-infused punch to the face in that Harpie Lady Sister's immediate future, though. Nobody makes Wynn cry and gets away with it unscathed if I have anything to say about it. If only looks could kill…

A quick look ahead and feeling the winds told me that we were nearing our destination, as I saw a small picket patrol of Birdfaces, which meant we were about to enter these Harpies' nesting grounds. With that now confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt, I went back to trying to console Wynn and set fire to the Harpie carrying her with my glare.

After another ten minutes or so - and wow it was getting late, the sun's nearing the horizon - and we finally reached the Harpies' nest, as the Cyber and Harpie Girl broke off to go elsewhere in the nest, while the Harpie Lady Sister set Wynn and I down near the entrance of the nest, Harpie's Brother landing close by me. Immediately after Wynn was on her feet and free to move again, I stalked over to the Harpie Lady Sister that's been carrying her with a murderous glare on my face. The Harpie rightfully looked fearful of the vindication I was ready to unleash, and I unleashed a wind punch right to her face, her sisters wincing as the damage seemed to be shared by all three Sisters, not that I really cared about that at the moment, knocking her to the ground as she clutched her nose and looked up at me with tears eyes.

" _That_ was for making Wynn cry," I growl as I point at the guilty Harpie before taking the still crying Wynn into my arms, lightly bouncing the Charmer in my arms as she immediately started clinging to me like a lifeline. "Shh. It's okay now, Wynn. Don't cry, big brother's here. The mean bird lady won't hurt you anymore, little gust."

Wynn kept crying for a few more minutes as I held her in my arms and comforted her. After a bit, her crying died down to the occasional hiccup before she tuckered out a little, lightly napping in my arms.

Looking to the Harpie Lady Sisters, the one that'd carried me looked stuck between wanting to scold her sister and wanting to gush at either Wynn or myself, the one that'd carried Wynn looked like she desperately wanted to apologize, but was worried that'd I'd do worse to her than the wind punch, and the one that'd carried Harpie's Brother was actually scolding her sister. Or, at least, I _think_ she's scolding her sister. It's a little hard to properly tell when I can't understand her without Wynn's help… wonder if she can possibly teach me how to talk with all Wind-Attribute Monsters? I'm naturally attuned to the winds and a Spellcaster now. Is there still something I'm lacking, or is that all I need?

Before I could think of shaking Wynn awake to ask her, the Cyber Harpie Lady from before returned and beckoned for my Monsters and I to follow her. With Wynn still asleep in my arms and her Familiar now perched on my shoulder, I looked to Harpie's Brother and motioned with my head towards the Cyber, getting a nod in response and him falling in step with me as we followed her to, presumably, meet the resident Harpie Queen.

As we walked, I took the time to look around the nest to see the variety of Harpies I could possibly recruit if I can talk the Queen into joining me. There was several members of the Harpie archetype here and there, going about their end-of-the-day activities. A Harpie Channeler was busy corralling a Harpie's Pet Dragon into a cave for the night, and I even saw the Harpie Girl from before, I could tell it was her because she smiled and waved to me, which I returned with a smile and nod since my own arms were too full to wave back, playing with a pair of Harpie's Pet Baby Dragons with two more Harpie Girls that seemed to shy up as they looked at me. A trio of Harpies consisting of a Harpist and two Dancers leered at me as we passed by them in the middle of their practice winding down, earning them a blush from me, especially when the two Dancers smiled playfully to one another before they twirled towards each other and hugged in such a way I was obviously meant to see, and could quite clearly see at that, their breasts squished together and winked at me. A second Cyber Harpie Lady passed by soon after as we walked and gave me a sultry smirk and a slap to the butt as we passed each other, which caused my blush to intensify and me to jump a little, which I could see got the Cyber leading us to look at me from over her shoulder with a smirk of her own as she looked me up and down for a moment before returning her attention to the direction we were walking.

Before long, we stood before the resident Harpie Queen and the Cyber Harpie Lady bowed before her as they conversed briefly, though it sounded like little more than chirps and screeches to me, so I got to shaking Wynn awake so that she could work her magic so I could actually understand what was being said.

It took a couple of tries, but I eventually got Wynn awake and on her feet again and subtly motioned between the Harpies and my ears, which Wynn thankfully understood what I was silently asking her and muttered a brief incantation before waving her staff at me, the jewel in the center glowing a soft emerald for a moment.

" _I see,"_ I heard the Harpie Queen mutter in thought, telling me that Wynn's spell worked, before she looked to the Cyber Harpie Lady. _"I wish to speak with him alone. Leave us."_

" _Of course, milady,"_ the Cyber replies as she nods to me with a soft smile and flies over the small rock archway that separated the Queen's personal area from the rest of the Harpie Nest.

Of course, this also left me alone with the Harpie Queen, who looked at me indifferently. _"You know, Human, most are supposed to bow when they stand before a Queen such as I."_

I blinked twice and then quickly realized my folly. "O-oh, apologies, your majesty," I reply hastily as I bow, Wynn and Harpie's Brother mimicking my action. "I meant no disrespect to you, but my Charmer companion was still asleep and I needed her awake to cast her translation spell so that I could properly converse with you and yours."

" _Your reasoning is sound and your apology accepted, Human,"_ she assures before motioning for me to rise, which I do, Harpie's Brother and Wynn standing upright soon after. _"Step closer, Human, and allow me to look upon you more closely. Your Monsters are to stay where they are, however, for I mean you no harm unless you provoke such a response of me."_

I nod and look to Harpie's Brother, who nods at me, then to Wynn, who looks worried, though I reassure her with a quick pat on the head, before walking up to the Harpie Queen until she motions for me to stop about three feet in front of her, to which she gets off of her throne of stone and natural bedding materials, mostly moss and some feathers, now that I look at it more closely, and starts walking in a circle around me, a single talon lightly tracing itself along me shoulder blades as she does so, evoking a slight blush from me at the contact before she comes to a stop in front of me again.

" _You fought today to protect one of my children from a pack of beasts that have been troubling my nest for some time, and for that, you have my gratitude,"_ the Queen says as she looks at me dead in the eyes. _"However, a Human such as yourself would not do so purely out of the goodness of your heart. Speak, who art thou, and why have you come here, to these Hunting Grounds of the Harpie race?"_

"M-my name is Skywind. Cloud Skywind, your majesty," I reply, stuttering a little bit at first from her piercing gaze. "I came here to train and possibly recruit any Harpies without a nest to call their own. I've always had a particular fondness for your kind, and was hoping to gather a small flock of my own to travel with. You may ask my Harpie's Brother and Wynn yourself if you wish to confirm my words."

" _I do not feel that shall be necessary,"_ the Harpie Queen reassures as she walks back to her throne with a sway to her step that gives me a hard time keeping my gaze above her shoulders, continuing when she sits down again and crosses her legs. _"Your scent carries the mark of one close to the winds; I can feel the sincerity of your words. If it is a Harpie flock you seek the company of, fair Skywind, me and mine might be willing to answer your desire. You have aided us already, and that gives me cause to grant you favor. We will not join you without something in return, however. I believe your Human system would refer to this as a… Request, I believe is the proper term. Tasks that can be found in Towns and Cities, or sometimes happened upon outside the boundaries of your kind's larger settlements."_

I motion to my Bracer and the Queen nods, allowing me to open my menu quickly and check the help menu for a moment. "The term is indeed Request, your grace," I inform her as I close my menu and return my arms to my side.

The Queen nods in thanks before getting to her Request. _"Those Phantom Gryphons you fought were but a small element of the pack that has been competing with my flock for control of the part of the Hunting Grounds you stand in now,"_ she says, going straight to the heart of the matter. _"Help us deal a decisive blow to their pack, and I will see to convincing my flock to join you. What say you, Skywind? Shall you aid us with this problem, and receive my flock into your ranks in turn?"_

I actually had to stop and think about this, looking to Harpie's Brother and Wynn, who looked equally surprised at the offer. This sounded like a pretty good deal, but at the same time, even without Defense, Phantom Gryphons are no mere pushovers with 200 Attack…

Fortunately, the Harpie Queen caught unto my group's present indecisiveness, and decided to give us a better deadline to answer her Request. _"I see I have given you and yours much to think about, fair Skywind,"_ she says, regaining my attention. _"You may stay here as my guests, I'm sure you and yours tire and hunger from your travels and recent combat. Take the night to rest and revive yourselves, and give me your answer in the light of Dawn."_

"O-oh, t-thank you, your grace," I reply in surprise, bowing to her again.

She nodded her head and bade the Cyber Harpie Lady from before to come back. _"Inform the rest of the flock: this Human and his Monsters are our guests this night. Treat them as we would another of our kin."_

" _Yes, my Queen,"_ the Cyber Harpie Lady replies dutifully with a bow before flying off again to do her assigned task before I notice the Queen rise from her throne again and offer me her hand.

" _Come, I wish to give you a proper tour of my flock's nest, and for you to meet all of my flock,"_ she says with a rather enchanting smile on her lips.

"U-uh… thank you, your majesty," I reply, a bit uncertain, as I take the offered hand, the bird-like palm feeling hard, yet surprisingly smooth to the touch as her talons wrap around my hand and she guides me back into the nest proper.

-about an hour later-

Well, that had been enlightening.

Despite being one of the smaller flocks out there, apparently, this Flock had a good assortment and plenty of elites about it. Beyond the Harpies I'd already seen, there were two more pairs of Harpie Lady Sisters, a Harpie Lady 1, another Channeler, and two more Pet Dragons. There were also about six or seven Birdfaces and about four Sky Scouts whom Harpie's Brother quickly became buddies with. The Harpie Girls became fast friends with Wynn once the one I'd saved finally convinced the other two that my Monsters and I were friendly.

All the other Harpies… well…

"Ugh," I groan as I carefully flop down on the "bed" provided for me by the Queen, which equated to a soft patch of dirt with moss and some molted Harpie feathers for bedding material, Harpie's Brother sitting quite comfortably on a nearby rock and Wynn sitting down beside me while Petit Dragon, funnily enough, decided to make a nest out of Harpie's Brother's hair. "I didn't think the Harpies would be so eager and determined to jump me like that… guess that's what happens when you save one of their chicks and promise to help them deal with a pretty large Phantom Gryphon pack…"

Yeah, after being introduced to the rest of the flock and getting an estimate for just how big this Phantom Gryphon pack was, I'd agreed to help them out. Turns out that, counting each trio of Harpie Lady Sisters as three separate Harpies and not including the Pet Dragons, this pack we'd be dealing with outnumbered the Harpies somewhere around, like, five or six to one, and there's a possibility of them being led by a Boss Monster, which would make the fight that much more dangerous.

" _Look at it this way,"_ Harpie's Brother offers, _"with how many Phantom Griffons are in this pack, we're bound to get a metric crapton of experience, Gold, and even a bunch of Phantom Griffon cards on top of the Harpies, Sky Scouts, and Birdfaces that nest here in preparation for that tournament."_

"Yeah, I guess that's true…" I hum in reply, folding my hands behind my head while Wynn yawns cutely and starts snuggling up to me, nodding off already. I smile and ruffle her hair a little before looking to Harpie's Brother with a nod. "Right, well, guess we start getting to work tomorrow. Good night."

" _Night,"_ Harpie's Brother returns before stretching his limbs and making himself comfortable against the rock and falls asleep. Sleep was coming for me as well, and being so open to the winds meant I closed my eyes with a smile, the gentle breeze easing me into slumber's refreshing embrace.

* * *

 **Spice: And that's chapter! Next time, we check in with Ms. Mordred and see what's happening with her and Command Knight while Cloud's been traveling to and spending time in the Hunting Grounds. I will also be writing a separate lemon chapter for that, which will be posted on a separate website when I, eventually, get around to it.**

 **ELFI: Spiceracksargent001 would like to extend his public thanks, once more, to Phoenix Champion, for providing him with a Pseud on Archive of Our Own, where the Captain will be posting work unsuited for this site.**

 **Spice: Thank you, ELFI. As always, folks, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated, and flames will not be tolerated. Until next time, this is Spiceracksargent001: signing off!**


	9. Chapter 9 - Duel

**Spice: Hello once again, ladies and gentlemen, to Chapter 9 of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual: Enter the Element Reavers! In this chapter, we see Serina begin her own preparations and acquire some new Monsters for her coming duel with Cloud before the tournament. The first scene of this chapter would include a lemon flashback involving Serina and Command Knight, but I will post it separately on Ao3. Thanks again to Phoenix for providing me a Pseud on his Ao3 account for just this purpose, and I will let you all know when that little moment is written and put up there.**

 **ELFI: The Captain does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor the entirety of this storyworld.**

 **Spice: Without further ado, on with the story!**

* * *

-Serina Mordred's room, around the time Cloud met Alexandra, no P.o.V-

Serina stirs and opens her eyes as she wakes up in her bed, face nuzzled into the crook of the neck of another in bed with her. Smiling softly, the ravenette Kitsune warrior climbs onto her hands and knees on the bed, the black bed sheet lifting as she did so, as she gazed upon the flushed, but peacefully slumbering face of her Command Knight, replaying what had transpired between the Player and her Monster over an hour or so ago as her soft smile slowly shifts to a lewd grin.

Shaking her head to clear herself of those thoughts, Serina's smile regained it's soft gentility as she lovingly captured Command Knight lips with her own while running her hand through the blonde Knight's hair, getting the effect she desired as the Monster she'd chosen as her starter woke from her slumber as the vulpine kunoichi broke the kiss and pulled back a little. "Rest well, my darling knight?" Serina coos.

" _Mmm… yes, it was quite… refreshing,"_ Command Knight replies with a blush and a small smile. _"I trust you were satisfied, milady?"_

"But of course, my lovely retainer," Serina replies, giving Command Knight a peck on the nose before rising off of the bed and gathering her clothes, her demeanor changing from that of a satisfied lover to her usual, cool visage. "Now then, get dressed, my Knight. We must make preparations at once for us to begin our training."

" _By your will, milady,"_ Command Knight replies, her demeanor changing back to that of a dutiful Knight as she also rises from the bed and starts gathering her clothes and equipment.

-about ten minutes later, just outside the Village of Beginnings-

Serina, Command Knight, and Serina's Silver Fang stood just beyond the gate leading out of the Village of a Beginnings and leading out into the open road. They looked out , silently observing the immediate area.

" _What is the plan, milady?_ " Command Knight asks, hand resting on the hilt of her blade.

" _We hunt, alpha?_ " the Silver Fang barks in question with a tilt of its head.

"We will, Silver Fang, but that will not be all we do," Serina replies, looking to the wolf before turning to the Knight. "We shall be fighting most creatures that we come across. I would like to recruit a Trap Master if possible, however. In addition to having an especially high drop chance for Trap Cards in the wild, one's talents and capabilities would be of great benefit to my capabilities as a kunoichi."

Command Knight nods in understanding. " _Very well, milady,_ " she replies dutifully. " _I shall be extra vigilant for any signs of a Trap Master in the area._ "

"Well, I suppose that is _one_ way of going about it," a voice from ahead says, catching the attention of Serina, Command Knight, and the Silver Fang, making the three look ahead of them to see a pair of elves, whom Serina deduced to be a single Gemini Elves, looking back at them while holding themselves in a way that _really_ brought attention to their slightly swaying breasts.

As much as she appreciated the view, however, Serina was on a personal mission here, and as such, held her Iron Shortsword at the ready, the European weapon feeling as alien in her hands as it had the day she first bought her current weapons and armor, as she spoke to the Monster before her. "What do you mean?" she asks without.

"Well~," the light elf starts, her voice matching the one that had interrupted Serina's conversation with her monsters, implying that she was the one who got their attention, "wandering around looking for a fight is all well and good, but without knowing where to find what, specifically, you're looking for, you could very well be looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack."

"Fortunately for you," the dark elf then starts, picking up where her twin left off, "we just so happen to know the perfect place to find Trap Masters, as my sister and I have been tasked by the Administration to teach newcomers leaving the Village of Beginnings about Requests by bringing them right to a place where you're guaranteed to face a Trap Master."

Serina looks to her Command Knight is silent conversation. After a few seconds, she nods to the Beast-Warrior, prompting her to look to the Gemini Elf. "Take us there," she replies simply.

The two elves smile and nod their heads while shifting their stance so that they're standing upright. "Very well, then," the light elf starts. "Follow us, we'll take you there," the darker elf finishes while they motion for Serina and her Monsters to follow, prompting her to nod in return as they start following the Spellcaster-Type Monster, Command Knight falling in step behind her and to the left, an ideal position to react to incoming attacks, while the Silver Fang takes up a similar position on her right side.

When they arrived at the spot, the first thing she noted was that, indeed, there was a Trap Master floating about, oblivious of any potential dangers. The two Gemini Elves then look to her. "I'm sure a smart cookie like you already knows this, but in the wilds, Monsters like Weapon Hunter and Big Shield Guardna have high drop chances for weapons and armor, respectively," the light elf explains.

"Following in that same line of thought, Trap Masters have extraordinarily high drop chances for Traps of any rarity," the dark elf finishes with a smirk. "Care to try your luck?"

Serina chuckles a little as she closes her eyes for a moment before looking to the Trap Master with a smirk. "Gladly," she replies as she draws her shortsword. Before engaging, however, she turns to her Command Knight and Silver Fang. "I must request, however, that neither of you interfere. I wish to challenge the Trap Master to a duel for its allegiance."

Command Knight bows her head and puts a closed fist over her heart in salute. _"As you command, milady,"_ she replies dutifully, a small smile on the Warrior's face due to her master's honorable decision to challenge the Trap Master to single combat.

The Silver Fang seemed a bit off-put, however. _"No help Alpha?"_ The wolf barks in confusion.

Serina looks to the Silver Fang and nods. "No help Alpha," she affirms with a commanding voice. "Help bad for pack growth here."

The Silver Fang huffs, but nods obediently, understanding that the alpha's word was law. It might not like being unable to help her in her hunt right now, but if it meant the expansion of the pack, the wolf can cope with watching Serina demonstrate her strength and once more affirm her position as pack alpha.

Now assured that her Monsters would not intervene, Serina shifts her shortsword into a reverse grip and steps forward. "Trap Master!" She calls out, getting the Warrior-type Monster's attention. "I challenge you to a duel!"

The Trap Master examines Serina for a moment before smirking. _"Very well, Beastkin, I accept. But first, I am curious: what do you seek of me with this challenge?"_

"Your allegiance," Sasha replies with a similar smirk as she enters a ready stance, "nothing more. There is someone I desire to defeat, and among the list of Warriors I seek is one who would be adept at laying down the proper instruments to help level the playing field against him. Who better for such a task than one such as yourself?"

The Trap Master chuckles and grins as he throws open his cloak, revealing an array of saws, drills, and shears while his top hat opens up into a snapper trap. _"Spoken like a true warrior, Beastkin. Very well, then. Let us begin!"_

-Command Knight's P.o.V.-

I unhook my sheathed sword from my belt and plant the tip in the ground with my hands resting upon the pommel as my mistress and the Trap Master begin to circle each other, silently sizing each other up. While I was irked at the Warrior referring to my Mistress as "beastkin", I easily fought down the urge to take my mistress' place in the duel. This was her task and hers alone, and as her loyal retainer, it is not my place to interfere in such affairs.

My mistress' Silver Fang was now laying on its stomach with its head resting upon its paws, disappointment at not getting to fight evident in the wolf's eyes.

I could not, however, keep a smirk off of my face at the Trap Master's evident confusion and irritation at my Mistress not growing impatient and rushing into combat. When we'd first reached the Village of Beginnings, she had explained to me that, while she was a Beast Warrior, she would carry herself as a practitioner of an art she referred to as Ninjutsu. From her description, much of the art's combat aspects focus on analyzing your adversary and fighting to win through any means necessary. While that last part irks me a little, she is a considerate and understanding master, so I tolerate it. After a bit, the Trap Master's confusion and irritation lead to it charging at my Mistress, a fatal error.

With practiced ease, my Mistress parries the Trap Master's circular saw with her blade and shifts into a grapple, slamming the Trap Master into the ground, and then stomping on him once before jumping back a bit. I noted that the Trap Master had crossed its circular saw and claw shears in front of itself defensively when she slammed her foot down, a clear sign of shifting to Defense Mode to dampen the impact.

Shakily, her opponent floated back into an upright position and noted that she had assumed her defensive stance again. I swatch the Trap Master assume a more guarded stance of its own, an impressed smirk on its lips. _"Clever, beastkin,"_ the Trap Master compliments. _"One able to balance human reason and animal instinct as you do is rare, indeed. This shall be a good test to see if you have what it takes to earn the respect of Warriors much greater than I."_

"My gratitude, Trap Master," my Mistress replies. "I am honored to know I have exceeded expectations."

" _Be that as it may, this is not over yet, Beastkin,"_ the Trap Master reminds. _"Show me your full worth as a warrior!"_

"With pleasure!" my Mistress replies as she initiates the charge this time, blade shifting into a forward grip as the distance between them closed.

-Serina's P.o.V.-

Taking the blade into both hands, I leap the rest of the distance between myself and the Trap Master, bringing my blade down in a diving slash. My opponent was quite able to dodge to the side, but I merely roll with the impact of my landing to get into position again and catch the Trap Master in a rising slash. He brought up his shearing claw to dampen the impact, but I could tell I was slowly racking up more damage as he was pushed back from the force of the blow.

'One benefit of being a Beast-Warrior,' Serina thinks to herself. 'Easier to react to sudden changes thanks to the animal instinct. Tricky to work into a proper fighting style, though. Also doesn't help that these European weapons don't feel right in my hands. What I wouldn't give for a Wakizashi or Katana right now.'

Setting my mental complaints aside for the moment, I bring my Bracer up to check my opponent's stats quickly.

[Trap Master - Lvl 3 - LP: 130/300 - ATK: 50 - DEF: 110 (55 Passive)]

Nodding to myself and retaking my stance as the Trap Master recovered from my attack, I could see him eyeing me inquisitively. Based on his posture, it was clear my opponent was weighing his options. Smirking, I decide to cut his contemplation short by charging in, sword ready for a charging thrust. He seemed to smile a little at my decision, even as he used his shears to parry my attack while moving to the side, effectively side-stepping my attack. Smirking, I turn my blade and convert the thrust into a spinning slash, catching him as he was about to attempt to counterattack and launching him back a bit.

Capitalizing on the chance, I moved a bit closer and then jumped for a diving kick. Because the Trap Master was still recovering from my spinning slash, the attack connected full-on and knocked him to the ground. He smiled as my foot met his body and nodded in approval before shattering like glass on impact, dropping three Coins, 30 exp, and 3 cards. Picking them up, I saw it was two Trap Cards and a Monster Card: Kunai with Chain, Quantum Cat, and the Trap Master I'd just fought. Smirking, I put Trap Master in my Monster Zone and set Quantum Cat face-down in my Spell/Trap Zone while slotting the Kunai with Chain into my Bracer's deck. Trap Master appeared beside me with a smile, while I felt a spectral presence perch itself on my shoulder.

" _Congratulations, master,"_ Trap Master says as he extends a hand, which I shake with a smirk. _"I look forward to putting my tools to use under your guidance."_

" _Nyah~, so you are mein Meister?"_ The spectral entity calls out in my mind with a German accent, drawing my attention to my shoulder, where I see the ghostly image of a cat that seemed to change its specific appearance and the color of its pelt intermittently. _"A pleasure to meet you. I shall be ready, vhen you have need of me."_

"Indeed," I reply to them both, then turn to address the Gemini Elf. "My gratitude for-... where'd they go?"

That brought the attention of all four of my Monsters as we looked around, only to find that the two elves were nowhere in sight. It was then I noticed a beeping come from my Bracer, and I brought it up to see what it was. I was greeted with the following notification.

[Request: Gemini's Teaching - Complete]

[Reward: 200 EXP, 50 coins]

A level up. Excellent.

[Serina Mordred: LP: 800, ATK: 140, DEF: 100]

Nodding in satisfaction of my new stats, I brought up my Upgrades menu to allocate my new Upgrade Point. After some careful contemplation, I put the point into Hunting Howl for an Aura Buff. Almost immediately, my throat and vocal chords felt like they were on fire, though having gone through a Transformation and gotten two Abilities meant that it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Command Knight, ever my loyal retainer, was the first to notice the effects of my change and rushed to my side, supporting me through the change, joined soon after by Silver Fang and Trap Master. Quantum Cat was still just an astral projection, but sent a soothing sensation to my mind in support.

-no P.o.V.-

" _Are you alright, milady?"_ Command Knight asks Serina as the Beast-Warrior finds her balance once more and unclenches her teeth, panting as her hand finally leaves her neck.

"I am fine, my loyal Knight," Serina reassures, voice hoarse from acquiring the ability she'd chosen. "The worst of it has already passed." Once Serina was back on her feet, she turned to her assembled Monsters. "Now then, it is time to continue on. We still have preparations to make for our coming battle."

" _Speaking of, you mentioned needing my talents for something to do with this battle, care to explain the details?"_ Trap Master asks, eliciting a predatory smirk from Serina.

"But of course," she replies, motioning for the rest of her Monster entourage to follow. "Come, I will explain as we travel."

-Harpies' Hunting Grounds, with Cloud-

Cloud Skywind shot up in his modest bedding provided by the Harpie Queen, a cold shiver running down his spine. The sudden action surprised Wynn, who awoke with a start. _"Are you alright, big brother?"_ the Wind Charmer asks worriedly.

After a moment, Cloud regains himself and nods reassuringly to his little sister figure. "Yes, I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern, Wynn. Now, back to sleep." The former Gusto needed no further prompting and nodded with a yawn as she settled in again and fell asleep. Cloud did the same, though sleep eluded him for a little while. 'That feeling… Serina's gonna have a nasty surprise ready for when I return to the Village of Beginnings for the tournament. I can feel it on the winds…'

* * *

 **Spice: And that's chapter! Next time, we get back to Cloud as he begins preparations for the big throw-down against the Phantom Gryphon pack. But first, there's something I need to announce.**

 **ELFI: The Captain still needs OCs for the Beginner's Tournament. The end total number of participants is to be 32 Players with their Monsters. Please submit a PM with your OC if you wish to contribute.**

 **Spice: A quick stop to Phoenix Champion's profile will provide you with the links you need for the character creator for just this purpose. Seriously, I haven't even reached the half-way point of having slots for this tournament filled! Other than that, constructive criticism is welcomed and highly appreciated. Until next time, this is Spiceracksargent001: signing off.**


	10. Chapter 10 - That one episode

**Spice: Hello, ladies and gentlemen, Spiceracksargent001 here with another chapter of Element Reavers. With this, we get back to Cloud as he interacts a bit more with the Harpie Nest, and an introduction to what's happening in the latest chapter of Alpha Gear, in case you, somehow, are following this story and not Phoenix's as well.**

 **ELFI: The Captain does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor the original formation of this storyworld. Credit for the latter belongs to Phoenix Champion, who has recently updated this story's big sister, Alpha Gear Chronicles.**

 **Spice: So, without further ado, on with the story! Oh, also, homage to the Ace Combat/Kantai Collection crossover fanfic _Ghost of Razgriz_ at the start of this chapter. It's a rather well-made crossover that, sadly, hasn't updated in a while last I checked it. Really hope that gets updated soon if it hasn't already.**

* * *

-Harpie Nest, Cloud's P.o.V.-

You know that one episode that happens in certain anime shows? Y'know, the one where the protagonist wakes up to a woman on top of/clinging to him for whatever reason? Yeah, replace the woman with a quartet of sleeping, heart meltingly adorable harpy chicks, and you have how I just woke up this morning after getting a notification tone from my Bracer. Not even joking, I've got a Harpie Girl nuzzled into each of my sides, a third snuggling into my chest, and a fourth clinging to the Harpie Girl on my chest.

They certainly look adorable, in that tangle of limbs, hair, and feathers, but I remember the Harpie Queen telling me she wished to see me in the morning for my answer to her Request and to discuss strategy if I'm gonna be helping her out, plus I kinda need some breakfast as well.

It was of course, as I started trying to wiggle out of the small harpy dogpile, that the Harpie Girl nuzzled into my right side stirred a little, a tired little whimper escaping her nose.

…

Dammit, there's stuff I need to do today!

-no P.o.V., just outside of Cloud's sleeping area-

The Cyber Harpie Lady was getting worried.

She was getting _very_ worried.

She didn't let it show, of course; she was the one in charge of watching over the Harpie Girls, so she has an image to keep up so the chicks had someone (other than the Queen, of course) to look up to and want to be like. Unfortunately, four of the chicks had wandered off sometime after she'd put them to bed, and they weren't at _any_ of their usual hang-out spots. Even the Pet Dragon offsprings' pen was void of the four. She'd scoured the nest high and low until, finally, she'd reached the last place they could possibly be hiding: the sleeping area the Queen had arranged for their human guest and his Monsters.

Taking a breath to center herself, the Cyber Harpie Lady walked in… and promptly had to contain her mirth at the sight before her. The Sky Scout was still fast asleep, and the Wind Charmer was just now rousing from sleep, slowly uncurling from the ball of slightly ragged, tan cloak she'd, somehow, contorted herself into in her sleep and rubbing her eyes in an almost cat-like manner.

The human (Cloud Skywind, if she remembered the Queen's introduction of him to the rest of the flock last night correctly), however, was already wide awake, and clearly at a loss of what to do as the slumbering chicks she was looking for have had him captive since they'd evidently snuck in for nighttime snuggles. Even as the Wind Charmer cast her incantation to allow her Player to communicate, she could see the buried human's head turn to her and mouth 'help me!' to her. She totally didn't giggle at that. Nope, _totally_ not giggling up a storm right now.

Cloud, meanwhile, was aware of Wynn casting her Wind-Attribute translation spell, even as he gave the Cyber Harpie Lady before him a look that conveyed how unamused he felt. 'Yeah, laugh it up, you humanoid pheasant,' he thinks to himself. To her credit, though, at least the Cyber was _trying_ to be discreet about it, albeit failing quite spectacularly. "You done?" he asks of the avian woman once her giggling finally subsides.

" _Yes, I am good now,"_ the Cyber Harpie Lady replies as she coughs into her hand to fully calm down. _"Apologies, it's just I've been looking all over for those chicks, and I just couldn't control myself seeing them all snuggled up to you like that after such an arduous search."_

"Yeah, well, this isn't exactly what I was expecting to wake up to, either," Cloud admits, shrugging as much as he can without disturbing the sleeping Harpie children. He then looks down to them as another stirs and makes a cute noise. "... Speaking of, do you mind…?"

" _Of course,"_ the Cyber reassures as she walks over and gently shakes awake the Harpie Girl on his chest, which chain reacts and wakes all four of them. _"Sleep well, chicks? Looks like you all found a comfortable new pillow to snuggle."_

" _Mmm… caretaker?"_ The Harpie Girl snuggled into Cloud's chest mumbles as she rubs her eyes. The second statement soon registers and the chick looks down at the Player's chest before looking to the Cyber. _"Oh, umm…"_

" _We noticed that he seemed a little jumpy last night,"_ the Harpie Girl to Cloud's left supplies helpfully.

" _So we thought we would help him out and keep him warm though the night,"_ added the Harpie Girl still snuggled into Cloud's right side.

" _We're sorry if we caused you any trouble for sneaking out, caretaker,"_ The Harpie Girl nuzzled into the first chick apologizes as she sits up.

Both Cloud and the Cyber sigh at the same time. Bless those chicks, their hearts are in the right place. Still…

" _You shouldn't be sneaking out of the nursery at night, chicks,"_ the Cyber chastises gently as she helps the Harpie Girls separate from Cloud. _"What could've happened to you if you'd wandered out of the nest entirely and been caught by the Gryphons?"_

" _We're sorry, caretaker,"_ the Harpie Girls chirp in unison while looking down at the ground. Seriously, the amount of cute they are giving off should be legally classified as WMDs.

" _All is forgiven, little chicks,"_ the Cyber replies with a gently smile before looking to Cloud as he can finally sit up and stretch a bit. _"Also, fair Skywind, our Queen wishes to see you at your earliest convenience."_

"Got it, tell her I'm on my way," Cloud replies, earning a nod from the Cyber Harpie Lady as she ushers the Harpie Girls out. It was, at this point, that he pulled up his Bracer and checked the notification he got.

[Balancing Patch released]

'Huh, wonder what's getting balanced,' Cloud thinks to himself as he reads.

[Due to several complaints from Players in recent duels at the City of Condour, a few Balancing patches have been implemented.]

[Claws, Horns, Talons, and Stingers now offer only a boost of 20 Attack to match Transformations of other Types in the world.]

'Okay, that doesn't really affect me, though it will impact Serina if she ever gets claws,' Cloud thinks as he reads on.

[Furthermore due to Complaint's about Spellcasters being hindered in certain environments, Spells are simply learned, increasing ATK with Spells can be found in the new Ability, Spellpower, which will increase Base Attack by 10 for each Point put into it, those who have already put several points into a Spell with find their point's moved into Spellpower.]

"Huh, well, that's interesting," Cloud muses as he pulls up his status.

[Cloud Skywind: Lvl: 3, LP: 700, ATK: 100 (100 with Gust), DEF: 110]

"Not bad, now my bow'll hit for harder without enchanted arrows, too," Cloud notes as Wynn clicks her tongue twice, Petit Dragon flying from its "nest" in Harpie's Brother's hair and perching on her staff while my Winged-Beast wakes up and yawns as he stretches as well.

It was also at that point that Cloud remembers that, yes, he did indeed level up against those Phantom Gryphons yesterday, and as such pulled up his Upgrades menu to allocate my new Upgrade Point. After some careful consideration, he put it towards a new Attribute Spell, thus giving him access to the Water Attribute spell, Frost. The rush and lightheadedness of gaining new magic was greatly dampened compared to when he'd first gotten Gust and Heal, but it did come with a definitive chill due to giving him access to Cryomancy.

-five minutes and a quick breakfast later, Cloud's P.o.V.-

After getting ourselves limbered up, I led my little party to the Harpie Queen's "Chamber" once more, bowing in respect before she beckoned me to rise.

" _Tell me, fair Skywind, what say you on the matter we discussed last night?"_ she asked.

"I have, your grace," I nod. "After spending some time with your flock, my Monsters and I have unanimously agreed to accept your Request. We will aid you against the Phantom Gryphon pack."

I could see the Queen's smile grow at my answer. _"Excellent. I shall assemble my advisors, and we shall begin planning our attack at once,"_ she says as she rises from her throne and beckons me to follow.

Looking to Harpie's Brother and Wynn, we all share a nod as Wynn joins me in accompanying the queen to the meeting while Harpie's Brother went back into the main area of the nest to head towards the Sky Scouts' alcove. While we were socializing with the flock, they'd asked Harpie's Brother to lend his wings for reconnaissance to ascertain the numbers we could expect to face, as well as if the Pack was being lead by a Boss Monster.

Stepping into a cave leading to an outcropping overlooking the entire nest, I was surprised to see a Harpie Oracle, the Harpie Channelers, and the Cyber Harpie Lady who'd rescued me from the Harpie Girls there. I could tell it was her because she was wearing a set of laurels made from twigs, possibly made by the chicks themselves.

" _Ah, good, you all came early,"_ the Harpie Queen says, getting the assembled harpies' attention.

" _We knew you would be convening the council today to discuss our strategy for dealing with those troublesome Gryphons,"_ one of the Channelers replies to her Queen before looking my way. _"I, for one, am glad you made good on your promise to the chicks to help us in dealing with this problem."_

" _He is touched by the zephyr,"_ the Oracle replies. _"You are Cloud Skywind, yes? Our Queen spoke of you. I was communing with the spirits of our ancestors last night, and as such could not meet you until now. It is an honor."_

"The honor's mine, madam," I reply with a slight bow. "I understand why we couldn't meet yesterday. The winds told me there was more to your Queen's flock than I would be able to meet before I had to retire."

" _Courteous, too,"_ the Oracle notes with a smile. _"A fine trait for one as young as yourself."_

" _If you would take your seat, fair Skywind, we may begin,"_ the Queen says, motioning Wynn and I to a set of stone "stools" opposite a second, smaller, stone throne which she soon took for herself. Wynn and I nodded and took the seats she'd designated for us while I discreetly checked the pop-up that I'd gotten.

[Request - A Queen's Plight]

[You have been beseeched by a local Harpie Queen to help her flock out with a large Phantom Gryphon pack that has been competing with her kin for territory and prey. In return for your aid, the Queen has promised to convince her flock to join your Deck.]

[Reward: 500XP, Harpie Queen's flock]

Making a mental note of the Request's reward, I returned my attention to the Harpie Queen right as she called the meeting to order.

" _Now then, Oracle, Channelers, what is the state of our standing forces?"_ She asks to kick off the meeting.

The Oracle spoke up first. _"Milady, thus far, our standing forces, counting each Harpie Lady Sisters as three, are outnumbered by the Gryphons more than 5 to 1. Greater control of the skies will belong to them for much of the battle."_

"Wynn and I can provide support fire from the ground with our magic and my arrows," I interject, "but with just the two of us providing surface to air fire and my Harpie's Brother in the sky for extra manpower in the fur ball, the Gryphons will still have a lot of freedom to fight in the air."

Harpie Queen nods to acknowledge my contribution, then nods to the Channelers to give their report.

" _Our Pet Dragons are ready for the battle, but even with their superior power in a 1-on-1 scenario against the Gryphons, and bringing the Pet Dragons into the fray, we are still vastly outnumbered,"_ one of the Channelers starts.

" _Our best chance against the Gryphons will have to be a divide and conquer strategy,"_ the other Channeler adds in, _"fool elements of the pack to split off to pursue individuals of our flock and then overwhelm them with superior numbers."_

" _That would be best, on paper, but I have foreseen the outcome of such a stratagem,"_ the Oracle cuts in. _"Even with the element of surprise and a divide and conquer strategy, attempting it would yield casualties far too great, for the Gryphon leading the pack is no fool. He would soon discern our methods and begin cutting off the escape for the fast attack elements of our forces."_

"Hmm…" I hum, taking all this into account while opening myself up to the winds for guidance.

" _Fair Skywind?"_ the Harpie Queen asks. _"Have you any more to contribute?"_

" _He has opened himself to the winds,"_ the Oracle interjects. _"We shall hear what he has to say soon."_

After a few minutes, I open my eyes and look to the Queen and her advisors. "What if we set a trap? Wynn and I will draw their attention and lure them somewhere they'll be at a disadvantage, and then your flock and my Harpie's Brother can strike them from behind."

My suggestion caught the Queen, the Channelers, and the Cyber off guard. The Oracle, however, sent a knowing smirk my way.

" _A trap?"_ the Harpie Queen repeats in disbelief. _"Fair Skywind, surely you jest! The Gryhons would overwhelm you in seconds!"_

"Not if Wynn merges beforehand," I counter. "Her Familiar-Possessed state features far greater offensive power than she does now, and her Piercing effect in that state will all but nullify any attempts by the Gryphons to defend themselves. Plus, I recently picked up a new Attribute Spell. Between my aeromancy, newfound cryomancy, and Wynn's Familiar-Possessed power, we can effectively lock down a large group of enemies."

" _We would be wise to follow his suggestion, my Queen,"_ the Oracle comments in my defense. _"I have foreseen countless possibilities for the battle ahead, and with him serving to distract the Gryphon's attention in the opening stages, they will be unable to quickly effect a proper counteroffensive to a mass charge at their flanks and rear, especially if Skywind is able to keep the attention of the pack leader upon him."_

The Harpie Queen looked like she wanted to protest, but eventually nodded. _"You have never lead me astray before, Oracle. Very well,"_ the Queen finally acquiesces, looking to me. _"We shall follow your plan, Skywind. Once our Scouts and your Harpie's Brother return, we shall begin planning out where our trap shall be sprung."_

We all nod and rise, the advisors taking off and going to do their day-to-day duties about the nest while the Queen walks over to Wynn and I as we stretch our legs. _"Are you certain you wish to go through with this, Fair Skywind?"_ she asks, concern still in her voice. _"I do not wish for you to shoulder too great a burden for our sake."_

I look to Wynn, who smiles at me reassuringly, before I nod to the Harpie Queen with a small, reassuring smile on my face. "I am, your majesty," I reply. "If the Oracle and I are on the same page for the effectiveness of outflanking the Gryphons, then I believe it's be worth a shot."

The Queen nods, a determined look on her face. _"Very well. If you are absolutely certain, then I shall give you my full support in the matter,"_ she replies, my smile growing a bit before she holds out her hand. _"May I see your map a moment?"_

"Uh, sure," I reply, a little surprised before opening it and projecting a zoomed in view of the Hunting Grounds and the immediate surroundings onto the stone "table", the Queen then walking over and pointing to an blank area just beyond the amount of map that I'd cleared up by using the Harpies' Hunting Grounds field spell and getting to the Hunting Grounds themselves.

" _Within this vicinity, you will find a human Village. I believe the name for it is Featherfall. It was established just beyond the edge of our Hunting Grounds, and sells equipment that uses the feathers and talons of Harpie and Gryphon alike. They are a deal more expensive than I imagine your equipment to have been, but it may be worth your while to visit and purchase new equipment when you have the time._

I nod in reply, marking down both the nest and the area she indicated as points of interest on my Bracer, a feature I'd read about last night when browsing my help menu before hitting the sack, before closing my map. "My gratitude for the tip, your grace," I say while ruffling Wynn's hair, earning a happy giggle from the Charmer.

" _I must also advise caution if you travel to and from here and the Village,"_ the Queen warns me, a grim frown forming. _"In addition to Nests and Gryphon packs, there also exist the Warbirds, Harpie bands that actively seek the hostile takeover of otherwise peaceful nests. If you see Harpies that decorate themselves with war paint, you will know that you have encountered a group of Warbirds. If they see your Sky Scout at your side or learn of your allegiance to us, they will become hostile and attack."_

I nod, making note of that. "Alright. My thanks for the warning, your grace," I reply with a bow before excusing Wynn and myself to go out and train a little in preparation for the battle.

-less than a minute later-

Or, at least, that _would_ have been my plan, had I not been stopped by the two Harpie Dancers and brought before the Harpist they were practicing with when I'd first arrived at the nest.

" _Ah yes, you are the boy brought before the Queen,"_ the Harpist coos with a warm smile as she beckons me closer. _"The Oracle foretold of your arrival."_

"She did?" I ask, a little surprised.

" _Indeed,"_ the Harpist replies as she plucks the strings of her harp, adding a sort of ethereal, mystic air to her next words. _"She spoke of a Player with the hair of the cloud-streaked sun, a Tempest Ranger who fights with bow in hand and the powers of the azure sky at his command. Fair and free as the zephyr with the fury of the storm, he and his Charmer, close as beloved siblings, shall stand against the full might of the vicious Gryphons. Their magic shall tear the Gryphons' ranks asunder, and with his bow, pierce the heart of their pack."_

Wynn and I both blink a few times, then look to each other a moment before looking to the Harpist. "Huh… that sounds…"

" _Incredible,"_ Wynn finishes for me. _"Big Brother? A 'Tempest Ranger'?"_

The Harpist nods with a smile while I place a hand on my chin contemplatively. "I gotta admit, that _does_ sound impressive, and the title sounds nice, too."

The Harpist chuckles a little. _"Well, don't let this humble Harpie hold you up any longer,"_ she says. _"Go enjoy yourself, o Tempest Ranger. The hour of battle shall be upon us soon enough."_

"Alright, see ya," I say with a wave as Wynn and I leave the Harpist to her practice as we try heading out again to go looking for Featherfall.

* * *

 **Spice: And that's chapter! Next time, we'll be catching back up with Diana and Relena after so long since the Vampiress last featured in a chapter, and Relena will have the honor of demonstrating one of the mechanics I created for Thunder-type Players. Anyone who's played Tales of Berseria, or recently looked through the Abilities and Transformations list, which you can get to from Phoenix Champion's profile, and therefore be within easy access to Element Reaver's big sister story Alpha Gear Chronicles if you somehow aren't following it, for OC creation, will have an idea of what kind of mechanic this is.**

 **ELFI: As usual, the constructive criticism is welcomed and greatly appreciated.**

 **Spice: Until next time, this is spiceracksargent001: signing off!**


End file.
